We already filled our villain quota, thanks
by LisaAbiona15
Summary: She really thought she would stop the villainy by taking the serum and crushing the Queen's heart. Instead, the evil queen is in town and oh right, there is also the small issue of Dracula - who apparently has decided Regina will be his first victim. Thankfully, she has her very own (pissed off, protective) saviour and their ( smart, brave, kinda Done with oblivious moms) son
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own OUAT. This is the slightest bit cracky, in the middle. Just a warning ;)**

Regina entered the graveyard, marching towards her vault. Now that her evil half was back, she wanted to be sure that she couldn't take any more items from Regina's vault. The spell at the town line was bad enough, she didn't need the evil queen doing anything worse, like casting another curse.

Regina was so lost in thoughts –I had to- I didn't have a choice, did I? - and worries – what if she uses the – that she didn't notice the shadows behind her moving. Or the fact that her skin suddenly goose bumped.. or the fog that was slowly closing in on her- trapping her.

It was only when a cold hand grabbed her and pulled her back that Regina noted any of this. She lighted her hand on fire, but-

 _Those eyes. Like -_

She tried to pull the man (?) away from her, but suddenly her limbs weren't obeying her, thinking was more difficult and the fireball that had just been ready to stop her attacker slowly died.

" Get- " _off why can't I talk? What's going –_  
Regina saw white fangs, red eyes and then only remembered darkness.

* * *

When Regina opened her eyes again, the darkness around her was almost gone. She was lying against a tombstone, her head covering the fading letters. She blinked her eyes as she tried to remember what happened.

 _I was walking towards my vault when –_  
Regina hissed when she moved her head and a sharp pain in her neck was the result. At first, she thought she just had a stiff neck but when she brought her hand towards it, she was surprised to feel something wet-

 _Blood?_

Regina stared at the red droplets clinging to her fingers. She used her free hand to pull herself up, then started walking towards the vault. _I still need to protect it against the Evil Queen. Also, I need a mirror._

After casting another spell –definitely not blood magic this time- Regina grabbed one of the many mirrors in her vault and used to look at her neck. The blood apparently came from two tiny red marks on her throat.

Regina frowned, trying really hard to remember. _Not again! Anything with 'forgetting' in it is really becoming a cliché in this town_. Still, that didn't change the truth: Regina remembered little but confusing flashes from last night. Coldness. The color red. And a sensation not unlike a needle piercing her skin.

She looked at the tiny marks one more time, then threw the mirror away with enough force that it shattered against the wall. Her fingers hovered above the marks, purple magic at their tips. Two seconds later, and the bite marks had completely disappeared.

She walks to the back of her vault, where she keeps her books. True, most of them are about magic but they should have something on the creature that's apparently targeting her. It's only after hours of basically fruitless research that Regina gives up and stumbles back to her car. When she gets home, she immediately changes her clothes and crawls into bed.

* * *

 _Red. Glowing eyes and a deep, seductive voice that seems to sink into her skin and freeze all her muscles. 'come , little queen, come' it echoes and Regina's legs are moving without her permission. In the back of her mind, she is aware that she should fight but the haze over her mind makes everything feel right. The red eyes disappear and instead there's fog all around her, goose bumping the skin that isn't covered by her pajamas. She shivers, and stalls for a moment. She moves her hand (it's so heavy, like there are weights hanging on it) and the fireball she tries to light trembles and disappears. The fog vanishes too, replaced by a large dog with eyes that make her freeze again. Except, this time she is aware that what is happening is wrong. This time, her heartbeat speeds as panic settles on her and there are clouds formed by her harsh breath around her. She can't speak. She can't move her hands enough to teleport herself or use even the tiniest bit of magic. She can only move forward, towards that same tombstone she woke up on, the dog bouncing ahead of her. She feels like a puppet on strings and for a moment, they break and she is free. Then the dog looks at her again and she is compelled to move forward. She can fight a little, enough to walk slower than the force driving her wants to but eventually.. eventually she is resting with her back against the tombstone and watching with panicked eyes as the dog's form changes. She can only see his eyes and the white of those fangs. She feels needles piercing her skin, then only darkness._

Regina wakes up feeling weak like a newborn kitten and gasping for breath. She can't remember what she dreamed, just flashes of a fog-plagued graveyard and red.. something. She pushes herself up with difficulty, every action feeling like it's a thousand times more difficult than normally. All her body seems to want is sleep, but she won't let it.

 _A cup of coffee will surely make me feel invigorated._  
Or so she tries to convince herself as she drags herself out of bed, struggles to put on clothing and transports herself ( she can't walk, not even the short distance to her car) to Granny's.

She is dizzy so when she actually finds herself at Granny's , she stumbles and it is only the fast reflexes of a famiar blonde exiting the booth that keep her from falling.  
" Wow, Regina are you ok- are those fucking bite marks" Emma's concerned tone changed into incredulity upon noting the two tiny marks on Regina's neck.

" Don't curse in front of our son" Regina says, glancing at the booth were Henry already had hot chocolate with cinnamon in front of him. Apparently the two of them were having breakfast, because there is a plate with pancakes across Henry and Henry himself is happily eating his own pile.

"Regina? Are those bite marks?" Emma repeats her question and Regina touches her neck, cursing in her head when her fingers once again encounter something wet and warm. Blood.

" Apparently " she sighs. Now she will have to tell what happened. She had hoped that she could solve this problem herself, already feeling like a burden now that the evil queen is running around, wreaking havoc.

Emma gently starts to guide Regina towards the booth, rolling her eyes when Regina weakly glares at her. Obviously, 'her majesty' didn't like being helped. Only when Regina is seated, does Emma scoot in herself.  
" What happened?".

" I went to my vault to protect it against - " she glances at Henry, who smiles at her. He already looks worried, so should she-  
" And-" Emma prompts.

" And before I arrived at the entrance, someone or something grabbed me".

Emma's eyes darken with fury. Across from her, Henry looks just as mad. If slightly less inclined to do bodily harm.  
" Who?".

" A vampire" the confident reply makes both his mothers look at Henry. He shruggs. " Come on, bite marks? Vampire, obviously".

" I don't know about that kid, it could be something else".

"Mom. What can you remember about the attack ? "he asks gently.

" Not much, but I remember that there was suddenly fog around me. And red. The color red. And then I woke up and my neck hurt".

" Dracula can turn into fog. And his eyes glow red, so you might have seen that" Henry says, nodding. He looks worried, but also slightly excited.

Emma leans back and groans. "seriously? Do I have to get Van Helsing or something? ".

" You could just stake him yourself" Henry says, shrugging.

" You have read Dracula?" Regina asks Emma, eyebrows raised and skepticism written over her face.

" Why would that surprise you? I read".

" It would surprise me , because I wouldn't think the genre or language used is something you would like".

" It is actually pretty good. I like-".

" Moms" henry exclaims, rolling his eyes ala Regina.

" yes dear?" " What is it kid?".

" Mom is bitten by a vampire? If it's Dracula, she is in a lot of trouble? He might come back for more?".

Emma smiles sheepishly. " You're right".

" I still can't believe this is happening" Regina mutters.

" So vampires weren't a thing in the enchanted forest?" Emma asks.

" They did exist, they were just rare. And I definitely never met one". Regina snorts. " Unless you want to count your mother".

" Uh what?".

" Skin as white as snow.. lips red as blood.. hair as black as ebony.." Regina cites. " It sounds more like a vampire than a bird-adoring princess".

" It would've been so cool if grandma had been a vampire" Henry exclaims.

" I don't know about that kid. Bats are kinda creepy".

" Bats are actually crucial. Thanks to their eating habits, the insect population is diminished. So unless you like clouds of insects, destroying all crops and such, I would be glad that bats exist if I were you". Regina remarks.

" Still. Creepy"

" I think bats are cute, but what are we going to do about the vampire? " Henry asks, glancing at the tiny marks on Regina's neck.

" We will need stakes" Emma decides, still that same 'is this my fucking life now' look in her eyes that she always gets when another 'fairy tale thing' happens. " Where do you get those?".

" You have magic, dear" Regina reminds her, rolling her eyes.

" Oh right".

" We might also need holy water, garlic and be careful about who you invite into the house".

Emma snickers. " How are we getting the holy water? Asking Blue to bless water for us?".

" I don't think that will work.. she is a nun, not a priest".

"Well maybe- ".

Regina turns to the waitress that has just arrived, ordering a coffee and salad and two more hot chocolate with cinnamon, then turns back to her son and Emma. " She is not actually a nun , she is a fairy. And we don't even need her help because I have holy water in my vault" she cuts into the conversation.

Both Emma and Henry stare at her. " Why? ".

"Because I like to be prepared".

" Okay cool, so we just need garlic then. And Emma can go get the holy water".

"Why me?".

" Because mom has already been bitten so we can't just let her out of our sight".

" What if I get bitten?".

" It's daytime" .

"So? Like any fairy tale character ever behaves exactly like you want them to. I mean, there is nothing in Snow White and The Seven Dwarves about 'and then the princess hit the prince with a goddamn rock' . What if this Dracula actually isn't bothered by daylight?".

" Then you might get bitten".

" Thanks for the concern, nice to know that I have such a loving, considerate son".

" Mom's cooking is a lot better than yours. Besides, I don't think he needs more blood already. So you're probably safe".

" Probably. That's so reassuring, probably".

Regina pushes herself out of the booth. " Miss Swan, I can-".

" No way Regina, what if that thing attacks again? I am not going to have it turn you into a vampire. Where on earth would we get the blood necessary to feed you?"

Before Regina can point out that they would probably have to kill her, Emma says something that makes her a little breathless. " I mean, you could drink my blood, but I don't have enough of it to make sure you're fed for the rest of your vampire-life".

"You would let me drink your blood? ".

" Well yeah".

Emma and Regina stare at each other, Regina incredulous but also with eyes that are impossibly soft and Emma determined but also a little shy. The moment is finally interrupted by Henry, who decides he can't allow the two to just stare at each other for eternity.

" So that's settled".

Very slowly, Emma drags her eyes away from Regina to look at Henry. " What is settled?".

" You will get the Holy water while mom and I go to the story to get garlic".

Emma sighs. " Fine. But if I get bitten by a vampire and can never enjoy another bear claw again, then you're officially a bad son".

Henry rolls his eyes. "Okay ma".

" Can you believe this? He isn't even worried ".

" It is daylight dear. And I am sure there are worse things than never being able to taste something that unhealthy".

" Stop ganging up on me!".

Both Regina and Henry smirk. Emma scoffs and starts stuffing her face with pancakes. "You- " mouthful of pancake – " Are so- " another mouthful of pancake - "mean!".

Regina offers Emma a napkin. " I am sure we are, dear" .

Emma ignores the offered napkin. " And don't pretend like you wouldn't be upset if you could never eat apples again or something".

" I wouldn't whine like an eight-year-old, no".

" Sure you wouldn't miss 'the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all' You're obsessed with apples Regina".

"I am hardly obsessed".

Emma starts to tick off on her fingers. " You make _apple_ cider and _apple_ turnovers. You have an _apple_ tree that you've had since forever and you have _apples_ in your study".

" I still don't see how this makes me obsessed".

Emma looks at Henry. " Kid? Are you going to gang up again or are you going to pick my side".

" You might be a bit obsessed, mom".

Emma slams the table triumphantly. " Boom! See? You're totally obsessed".

" Does this inane conversation have a point".

" Well yeah, you would dislike not being able to eat apples as much as I would miss my bear claws".

Regina rolls her eyes, but she is smiling at the same time. Emma might often act a bit idiotic, but she is a charming idiot. And somehow, most of her idiotic moments are more amusing/heart-warming than truly annoying.

" You seem to have inherited the idiocy genes that run rampant in the Charming family".

" Whatever your majesty, I know you don't think I am that much of an idiot".

" You can still be quite idiotic".

They bicker back and forth and Henry watches, rolling his eyes. His moms really can't help but constantly tease and taunt each other, like they're paid to do that. They're so _obvious_. Hopefully, during this vampire hunt they will finally see what's obvious to anyone with working ears or eyes; they totally like each other.

He isn't even that worried about his mom, because Emma would never let anyone hurt Regina.

Besides, their magic was stronger than a _God's_ . Like any vampire could ever beat them if they work together.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own OUAT.**

 _Barely substantial fingers, cold and wet like fog, on her arm. A husky voice felt at her ear. Lips at where her pulse jumps. Her magic warming her hands, only to turn into a slumbering dragon. Her thoughts – first slightly frantic, alarmed- suddenly all becoming 'where are you where are you'. An echo, flashes , the ground moving beneath her and-_

"REGINA " warm- shockingly so after the coldness of earlier- skin against her own. Her magic springs to life again, the familiar purple the first thing she notices. The second one is the slight tug in her stomach, then warm breath in her neck.

She tenses. " If you are truly moronic enough to attempt to bite me, I swear I will destroy you"

" That line is getting old, honestly. Don't you have better ones?" it sounds like she is almost laughing. It also sounds very different from the voice she had expected (if she had even expected him to talk, he hadn't during earlier attacks. Had he?)

" Swan". Her voice is sharp, brought on by the realization that she could actually feel Emma's breast pressed into her back, as well as hear (and feel the warmth of ) every breath she took.

" Remove yourself from my person" She commands, hoping that if her voice trembles Emma will think it is because of this whole dreadful vampire hunting her. Which still would be a nuisance- she didn't like anyone thinking she was afraid- but better than Emma knowing the proximity had certain.. effects on her.

" Are you still like under hypnosis or shit?".

"Emma , it is in the middle of the night so – " her impressive growl is interrupted by a furious shiver. She almost presses back into Emma for warmth before catching herself. She breathes in , out in an attempt to calm herself when she realizes why it felt like she was standing in the mud. The moist cold, the grains sticking between her toes, what she dearly hopes isn't worms wriggling beneath her feet.. it is all real.

Now that her head no longer feels like it is filled with cotton and her eyes actually are able to see anything else but red, she notes they were at the graveyard. She could've sworn there was fog, but the night is clear, the moon illuminating the names on the tomb stones around them.

" Regina, are you all right? " Emma exclaims, tearing Regina's thoughts away from what she remembered before hearing Emma's voice. She us just about to say something along the lines of " not only is the part I've spent years fighting roaming around Story Brooke, there is also a thing that can disenable my thinking until I might as well be one of Snow's little friends on the hunt for my blood. And you are asking me whether I am all right?"

Then Emma suddenly pulls away from her , leading to her trembling increasing despite her best attempts, and shrugs off that awful jacket. Before Regina can ay something (probably 'not even if Hell freezes over'), Emma is already pulling the thing around her.

She tries to shrug it off, even if it is warm and smells like Emma's magic and just _Emma_ and- _Really? Do not behave like a lovesick fool, and especially not for the woman who is in love with the one-handed STD-ridden pirate with a victim complex._

A hand gentle grabs her arm, just like a wraith and 'Regina talk to me' and – when she looks at Emma, her arm is squeezed one more time before the woman lets go and gives her a quick smile. " Are you going to tell me why you suddenly looked like you wanted to skin- " she glances at one of the tomb stones " Cygnus Lyon" .

"That infernal vampire. I was thinking of the thing that is after me. What else? ".

Emma frowns and Regina moves forward automatically when she looks- sad. "Lie. Why are you lying to me?".

Regina sighs. " Emma-".

" Come on, you can tell me" she presses.

" There is nothing to tell".

"Lie. Come on, if there is anything bothering you – "

" Swan, I know your family has a habit of thinking they're entitled to everyone's _secrets_ as wells as a stubborn belief that they only help , but- ". Her tone is probably a bit too harsh, but even the thought of Emma discovering … she cannot think of anything , but losing everything ( _again_ , because of a secret and Snow's family) if that happened.

" Okay, _fine_ " Emma spits. " Don't tell me then".

There is a long, tense silence where Regina contemplates just transporting back to home and sinking into a deep sleep and not caring about vampires that apparently invade her sleep even if there is magic (and garlic). Then she gets a glimpse- she can only see half of Emma's profile, because the woman is turned slightly away- of Emma's eyes and she can practically feel her resolve crumble. This would normally be the moment that she scolds herself for being weak.

" I apologize" it sounds slightly stilted, but not fake – thankfully. " I should not have made that barb about your family"

Emma slowly turns around , her eyes guarded. " You just- you were pushing me" she sighs. " I do not react well to that ".

Emma nods. " Yeah. I am too- sorry I mean. I know that you get angry when you feel threatened or anything. I understand really, I just- ".

She scoffs. " Well, it doesn't matter". She approaches Regina again. " I am taking you home".

Regina rolls her eyes, hoping Emma focuses on that and not her small smile. " You are, are you?".

" Uh considering _Count Dracula_ might be somewhere around here, just lurking until he can turn you into his mindless slave- yeah. I definitely am"

Regina pretends like she isn't feeling like she has swallowed fire flies, scolding herself for thinking she likes Emma when she is equal parts fiercely protective and awkwardly shy. Scolds herself even more when she cannot help but notice little details about Emma, like the exact colour/brightness of her eyes or the exact shade of her lips or-

 _Seriously? This is Emma Swan we are talking about, the woman who thinks grilled cheese can be breakfast, lunch and dinner, the same one that grossly oversteps boundaries all the time and risks everything for her no-good boy-_

 _She is also the woman who believed in you even when the entire town turned against you, the one who wouldn't let a wraith suck out your soul -even though she would have likely been better off without you and-_

Great. Apparently, she cannot even count on her inner voice to be make sense anymore. That is just what she needs right now. Honestly, there have been these instances where she catches herself thinking certain things about Emma Swan , but it has all changed since she split herself. She used to be able to stop herself, to shove away part of these thoughts. Now, they seem to have multiplied and become stronger than ever ( and seeing Emma Swan curled up on a chair in her room, that certain look in her eyes that she gets whenever someone threatens her family has made it all so much worse)

She shakes herself. She cannot allow herself to think about Emma in this way, she deserves so much better than Regina. She _wants_ so much better for her than a woman that used to destroy happy endings.

" You can take this poor excuse of a jacket back "she says, without any real bite, as she slips the jacket off her shoulders and hands it to Emma. Emma tries to push it back towards her, stubbornly insisting that ' You need to keep warm, Regina, hell I am not going to- " then makes a surprised noise as Regina grabs her hands and focuses

Two seconds later and they're in her bedroom again, where she only gets one a second to start to relax before she is startled by a body throwing itself at her.

She stumbles backwards, almost lights a fireball before recognizing him and instead placing her arms around him and muttering " I am all right, I am fine Henry, it is okay sweetheart".

He still won't stop trembling.

There is a small thuck! As something hits the floor ( what was her little boy going to use as weapon? ) but she is far more intent on soothing an obviously distressed Henry, who gasps and clutches at her. " Henry, sweetheart, do you want a glass of water?".

He pulls back and she almost cries herself when she sees the tear trails on his cheeks, that wobbling lip and worst of all – eyes that still have an echo of terror and pain in them. He usually tries to be strong, strong enough that he can take care of others but now he obviously can't.

" I t-thought he had gotten to you" is all he says and hugs her tightly again.

She hesitates, then says " Your mother was on time Henry. Despite her penchant for lateness, she won't be ever be too late to save anyone".

Emma swallows, then glances at Regina. She looks like she is asking for permission, so Regina just nods and then pointedly glances at Henry- 'he needs you , you idiot' which is when she finally approaches them. Her voice is a little tight when she lays her hand on Henry's shoulder and says " You don't have to worry Henry, I promise I won't ever be too late".

Henry pulls back a little, to properly look at Emma. " You cannot promise that. You cannot _know._ What if you are asleep or getting something to drink or mom is on the t _oilet_ –"

" I am hardly going to fall asleep in the bathroom, darling".

"You don't have to be asleep! He just needs one moment, one opportunity and we will have _lost_ you" Henry's voice cracks on 'lost' and his lip is trembling furiously but she can see her baby boy trying so very hard not to cry. She pulls him back into her arms.

She isn't as strong as him, so the tears are already flowing but he isn't able to see anyways. Her little prince , who is not so little anymore. " You shouldn't worry about me, Henry" she whispers, thinking back to the hungry glance in the queen's eyes for some reason. She tightens the hug.

He pulls back. " that is bullshit!" he spits . She is painfully reminded of ten-year-old him, who was all angry glances and accusations. " Of course I worry, you're my mom". His eyes and voice softens and he wipes at his tears. He is embarrassed , but still says it. "I love you more than, well pretty much anything you know? If you weren't- ".

He shudders and it is unbelievable, the agony on his face at the thought of her dying. Or – becoming undead. Regina desperately want that look to be gone, want him to smile and laugh and tease like he usually does.

" We have survived worse than him, Henry" she reassures him.

He manages a weak grin. " Like the Underworld?".

" I was thinking more of being stuck with your grandparents in Neverland, listening to their confessions of love and seeing them devour each other faces" Henry throws her a look like 'yeah right'. Over his shoulder, Emma rolls her eyes.

" We all know you love them, your majesty" she grimaces. " Though I really could have done without the making out".

" Uh _what_ " Henry slowly pulls away from Regina, though he keeps close, and turns to face Emma.

"Your half-witted granddad decided that he had not properly shown his love for your grandma, so he decided that when trapped on an island with your enemies next to you is the perfect time to kiss your wife in a rather appalling manner".

Henry looks a combination of vague amusement, disgust and slight offence. " What?".

Emma laughs. " You pull the same face Regina did back then".

Henry slowly starts to smile. "Really?".

Emma smiles back, her eyes glittering. "I believe she also said something along the lines of 'what I wouldn't have done for another sleeping curse " she actually tries to imitate Regina's voice, trying to make her own deeper and huskier

Regina glares at her. " You are a nuisance".

" You really _are_ becoming repetitive" Emma shoots back, smiling.

" My apologies dear, I will immediately devote myself to coming up with better one-liners".

Henry looks a little confused at first, then slowly start to smirk at the looks sent between his two mothers. Regina notes and forces herself to glance away from Emma to send Henry a suspicious look. He merely shrugs and says " You two are being weird" then yawns. Regina cannot be sure whether it is real or fake.

She stops caring when he kisses her on her forehead and hugs her one last time. " So where in this room can I sleep?".

" Henry, I've told you – ".

" Yeah well, you just vanished and nearly got bitten by The vampire". He smiles semi-innocently. " Besides, wouldn't I be far safer around both of my moms instead of all alone in my room?".

Regina frowns. "You might have a point. But you are not sleeping in a chair, I will conjure a bed for you".

Emma snorts. "You have a gargantuan bed Regina, why can he not sleep in that?".

 _So oblivious sometimes._ She arches her eyebrow. " Do you really think a teenaged boy wants to sleep in the same bed as his mom?".

 _And there is the lightbulb._ Emma's slightly sheepish smile is almost endearing. She only gets to watch it for a second, though ; Emma quickly turns to Henry. "So the queen-sized bed is a big no, huh?".

He shrugs. "I don't think I would mind for a night, really. Not if it will keep mom safe".

" Momma's boy" Emma mutters, playfully shoving Henry.

Regina glares fiercely at her. That glare withers as she looks at Henry, giving him a smile. "Do not listen to the idiot Henry. I think you are wonderful".

She turns to face Emma. " Do you honestly think I do not notice you mouthing 'momma's boy' from the corner of my eye".

"… Would I be doing it if I thought you noticed?".

" Most likely. You do seem to enjoy aggravating me" .

There is a moment where they are looking at each other, Regina with a tiny smirk and Emma with a bright smile. Henry looks chagrined when he cannot hold back a yawn, breaking the moment where the two are staring at each other.

Emma looks exactly like a dog shaking water of itself while Regina looks like she has just woken from a coma.

" You really need to go to bed Henry" Regina says, gently pushing him towards the bed.

He struggles a little. " Don't we need to cast spells or anything?".

Regina looks pointedly at the garlic above her window, around her bed's leg, nailed to the door, nailed to all four walls.. then she looks at her nightstand, where there is a giant silver cross ( she really doesn't know where they even got that, but the thought of Emma breaking into Blue's room and stealing it makes her smile, so she tells herself that is what happened). Finally, she looks at 'Emma's ' chair, where there are several stakes littering the ground.

" I am quite certain we have enough protection , sweetheart".

" But what about your dreams?".

" I will try tomorrow, but I have a feeling about this.. Dracula might be able to breach any defences we manage to create".

Henry crawls into the bed, yawning again. " Are you sure? Perhaps- ".

" I am very sure. And _you_ need to go to sleep".

She walks towards him, tugging him in. He grins at her, though he also rolls his eyes a little. She brushes the hair away from his forehead and kisses it. " Sleep well, sweetheart".

He smiles back. " Sleep well".

Regina is just straightening when Emma speaks up behind her, causing some confusion.

" How strong is your headboard?"

Then it becomes a lot more clear, leading to Regina stiffening and whirling around. And giving Emma her iciest, meanest glare.

" I am going to get my handcuffs".

" Miss _Swan._ Our son is right there" Regina hisses, pointing to Henry, who looks torn between gagging, bolting and laughing.

" Oh gods, the thought of that is g _ross_ " he groans, then laughs at the look on Regina's face.

Emma raises her brow a little. " I did not mean it like t _hat_ Regina" .

She pretends like she doesn't feel her cheeks heating. " You really have to think before you open your mouth , dear. You might have traumatized our son".

Emma snorts. " I wasn't the one who took it the wrong way. But really, how strong _is_ your headboard?".

She rubs at her temples, _And I am starting to get a headache as well, how wonderful._ " Have you even looked at my headboard? How do you imagine handcuffing a person to it will even work ? ".

" Funny that you didn't say that _before_ insinuating I had– " she glances at Henry, who seems still a little grossed out but mostly exasperated. " … certain ulterior motives".

Henry sighs. " Ma. Will you please stop talking about this? The idea is seriously grossing me out".

" The idea of your moms together?".

" No. The idea of my moms doing _that"._

Emma chuckles, then glances at Regina. Who crosses her arms and almost feels tempted to light a fireball at the devious glint in the woman's eyes. Eyes that suddenly- glide all over her? , until they pointedly get stuck somewhere around where her heart is beating a little faster.

" Miss Swan" she hisses, yet again.

Emma laughs. Then laughs even harder when a pillow hits her. Regina looks at the thrower : a scowling Henry. "Stop perving on mom, Emma " he says, but his scowl is threatening to turn into a smile.

That devious glint hasn't fully vanished , so when Emma starts to say " I don't know , kid, your mom- ", Regina steps forward and pushes her. "Not another word or I will curse you" she threatens.

Emma grins. " Really getting repetitive there, Regina".

She rolls her eyes. " I couldn't care less, Swan. Now can we all get some sleep?".

" Sure. I really do need my handcuffs though".

" Whatever for?"

" We need to tie you to something, or you are going to try to sleepwalk to the creep again".

" What would you even tie me to?" she has to swallow the urge to clear her throat. _Bad thoughts, Henry is in the room – stop thinking about that!_

" I could make a couple of holes in your headbo-".

" I am not letting you destroy my property. _Again_ ".

Emma just shrugs. "Fine" . She sighs "Well , I am obviously not cuffing you to Henry – that would really traumatize him, probably- but what about.. "

Her eyes glide throughout the room, getting stuck the chair right when Henry pipes up to say "Why do you not just cuff mom to yourself, Emma? That would keep her really safe".

Emma throws him an incredulous look. " Kid, I would have to sleep next to your mom in that case. And even though that bed is pretty gargantuan, it is not going to be comfortable if it is all three of us in it ".

" So? Mom will just conjure another bed, so I can sleep on that and you can sleep in hers".

Emma laughs nervously, her eyes darting towards the door. " Yeah, so not going to happen".

" Why not? You said it yourself, the bed is big enough. There is enough space that you won't touch or anything".

" We would be handcuffed to each other Henry!".

" I am going to bed" she stalks towards her bathrobe, tugs it on and slides beneath the covers.

Emma just stands there awkwardly, then shrugs. " I am going to get my handcuffs then". She waits a heartbeat, studying Regina. "You do that" Regina mumbles.

" Right. Maybe we can cuff you to the chair".

" I am sure you will figure it out Emma" Regina says, just that bit annoyed that makes Emma shut up and go downstairs.

Her footsteps have faded when Henry speaks again. " You should conjure another bed".

" Are you uncomfortable , darling?".

" Nah. I mean, it really is not that big of a deal to sleep here for one night. The bed is big enough and comfortable" He yawns again . " But Emma could sleep there, and she could still be cuffed to you".

" My smart little prince" she mumbles fondly.

"Hm hm " Henry mumbles, obviously already half-asleep.

" Sweet dreams" she whispers as he breath starts to even out.

She turns, feeling ridiculous as her heartbeat picks up at several sounds. _This is preposterous. It is just an overgrown bat, who cannot even get here as he needs an invitation to even enter._ Still, she cannot keep the cold away from her skin- that is goose bumping at the remembrance of fingers on her arm- nor can she keep herself from seeing that red and remembering what it felt like to be so puppet-like.

 _Stop it. You are being dim-witted. He won't get to you._

Still, her heart only calms when Emma can be heard. She glances at Henry, but he has always been a deep sleeper so he doesn't hear his mother's rather loud footsteps. Or notices when the door creaks and opens. 

" Hey "Emma whispers, carefully threading into the room. She kneels next to Regina, showing her the handcuffs. _Oh for- why cannot I stop thinking about THAT_. "What is a good idea?".

" Step back " .

Emma looks puzzled, but shrugs and does. Then stares at the bed that Regina conjures with a wave of her hand. Then at Regina's hand, that she holds up . "You have my permission to cuff yourself to me. You can sleep on this bed. It is close enough that it doesn't matter we will be handcuffed, but you won't be in the same bed".

" I am pretty sure that there is less space between us than there would be in your bed" Emma mutters, looking almost longingly at where Henry is sound asleep ( or perhaps at the space that is between him and his mother, more than there will be between her and Regina)

Still, she crawls onto the bed and reaches for Regina's hand. She quickly handcuffs them both, then lays down. Regina stares at her. " Are you not going to change into something more comfortable? " Then frowns. " Or at least get under the covers?".

" Nah, I am fine. And my jacket is warm enough".

" If you are sure".

" Yeah".

" Good night, Emma".

" Good night" .

They stare at each other for a while before Regina closed her eyes and Emma rolls on her back, staring at the ceiling. She listens to Regina's breathing, which is weirdly soothing. Just lets her thoughts go anywhere, from how she is going to kick this vampire's ass to whether Regina's hand that occasionally brushes against her is so soft because she uses some sort of moisturizer

 _Does my gun even work on vampires?_

Is her last thought and then nothing, but vague dreams.

 **I don't know whether I am a 100% satisfied with this. I will look at it again tomorrow, see whether I have any ideas that might improve it. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **my personal weakness is Regina who knows she likes Emma (but doesn't think she deserves her) so Pining and an oblivious Emma that would go to Hell for her but somehow doesn't realize she is in love. ; )**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own OUAT.**

 **Thank you for the reviews and everything! I really appreciate it.**

 **Warnings: there is one scene where a vampire is after a person/ uses its hypnotic powers. It kind of reads like a scene where an intoxicated person is felt up or kissed. It is in the scene where Regina is at Granny's so you can either skip it or just not read this chapter if that stuff triggers you**

She hums in the back of her throat, moving closer to the pleasant scent of apples and cinnamon. There are vague images from a dream she hardly remembers, the colour of ripe apples that she wants to get in her mouth and-

Emma slowly opens her eyes as the sun burns them, grumbling a little, still thinking of the colour red when- she thinks she is still dreaming (not this again) at first when she is faced with Regina's lips weirdly close to her. In fact, the last time she was close like _this_ was probably when Henry was stuck in the mines and –

Then she realizes it is real, holy fucking Hell that is Regina's breath on her tingling lips and Regina's hand holding hers , keeping it trapped on the bed and-

Any of her issues or instincts kick in and she yanks away. That would not have had any consequences, apart from the sight of Regina like freaking sleeping beauty replaying in Emma's mind like popups, were it not for the small fact that they were handcuffed together. Which leads to the following chain of events: Emma yanked, Regina's body was pulled forwards, brown eyes flew open-

Emma's heart has about one second to calm its racing before Regina's falling body is pulling her along. She hisses at the pain that flares in her knees and the sound they make as they collide with the floor. She rests her head on what is beneath her, groans softly. " Ouch".

" _Miss Swan_ \- " Emma yanks her head up before Regina can finish what is probably a hour-long lecture on- what? Forgetting you are handcuffed to the woman you will definitely stake a freaking vampire for- as she realizes Regina f _ell._

It is only when Regina's mouth falls open a little, her cheeks flare red and she gets that familiar I-will-destroy-you look in her eyes that Emma realizes that she probably should not have slid her hands over Regina's body without asking for permission first.

"Uh- I was checking for- " is as far as she gets before the handcuffs explode, she is catapulted backwards and lingers in the air for a moment before landing on her ass. _Great_ , more bruises. Regina's anger is honest to god a physical thing for a few moments, this electrical force that sounds like thunder and makes Emma's hair static.

Emma swallows. " Sorry. I thought you might have been hurt".

It is odd how sometimes, Regina's anger fades so quickly. She had been staring Emma down with unforgiving eyes two seconds before, a mixture of evil queen and cornered animal. Now, she just rises her eyes to the Heavens like she is asking God 'is dealing with this idiot my karma?'.

Emma decides it is safe to approach again- or well, her legs decide that for her. " Are you?".

" I might be a witch Emma, but it is not currently within my abilities to read your mind" she says drily.

" Injured. Are you injured" Emma says, reaching for 'her' spot on Regina's arms. A memory not unlike this one flashes through her mind; Regina in that cell, crumbling, her legs moving her forward without permission then too.

" I collided with the ground, not narrowly survived another attempt at my life"

" Well, your sarcasm seems to be in prime form, so you are probably okay" Emma returns with a small eye-roll and a grin. She still subtly tries to check for injuries though, because Regina is the kind of prideful, independent woman who would never admit she was in pain. And yes, Emma admires Regina's independence and strength and spirit, but she does not want Regina to walk around with a concussion or whatever just because-

The door opens, revealing a smiling Henry with something that will always get Emma's attention: a plate with breakfast.

" Hey moms" Henry says, walking over to where Regina is to kiss her on the cheek, then allows Emma to briefly throw an arm around him. He moves away when she tries to snatch a sausage. "Ma! Mom has to eat first, she needs all the strength she can get".

" Don't I need strength when I will be the one protecting her?"

" They're sausages, not the source of super strength dear".

Emma just gives Regina her 'you are lucky I like you even when you are an asshole look'. Then she quickly steals a sausage when Henry isn't looking. Only to bite air when it suddenly vanishes and appears in Regina's hand.

"Regina!".

" I believe this is mine"

"You just stole that from me!".

" After you stole it from the plate our son made for me".

" Moms. Stop the bickering. You can continue after we have found a way to save mom".

Emma shrugs. " If he tries to take Regina, I could just punch him in the face".

Cue rolling eyes from Millses. " Emma, it is a _vampire_ " Henry says

" Hey okay, your mother tried to punch the dark one in the face okay. That is a step up from vampire, so I am sure –".

Henry just talks over her. 'Rude' she mutters. He hands the plate to Regina. Then gets a notebook from somewhere and looks at the both of them. " So I did some research while you were sleeping- " Emma squints her eyes in suspicion as he smiles sneakily. She makes a mental note to ask him about it later. " and there are several sure ways to get rid of vampires".

" Garlic, stakes, sunlight" Emma immediately says, sitting down on the floor. Henry sits down next to her. Regina looks down at the floor like it is a tarantula, starts to walk to the bed before Emma mouthing 'afraid of a little dirt?' makes her eyes flash with that familiar fire and she sits on the floor as well.

Emma nearly jumps out of her skin when Regina leans in briefly to whisper "my floors are not dirty, my dear". And then just s _its_ there, with this smug cat-ate-the-canary look. Gods, she is insufferable.

" Ma, focus!" Henry throws balled-up paper at her.

" I am".

" No, you were not. You were staring at mom". Emma is like 99.9% sure he just muttered 'like usually'. And what is that even supposed to mean?

" So you were telling us about the destruction of this- " Emma admires the dangerous look in Regina's eyes. She misses that look sometimes. " _creature_ ".

" Yeah. Ma already told us about the obvious ones". He arches his eyebrow , all Regina-like. "But before she interrupted me , I was going to add less obvious ones".

"Why do we need other ones though? Can we not just stake him or trap him somewhere sunny?".

" We need other options. We have to have back-up plans ma or we will lose"

Emma is about to say something, when the finger in her side clearly communicates 'shut up'. She throws a quick glare Regina's way, then smiles at Henry. " Okay Henry, stun us with all the intel you have gathered'.

"Thank you" he glances at his notebook. "So-".

"Ouch!".

" MA" Henry groans in annoyance.

" That wasn't me! Your mother hit me".

"Because you were yet again attempting to steal my food".

"I haven't had breakfast yet! And you never finish your plate'.

"Oh for- " Henry rolls his eyes. " You share fries every time we go to Granny. Why is this different?".

Regina looks ready to argue that it is _completely_ different when she sights, there is smoke and then there is a plate with sausages and eggs and bacon that she offers to Emma. Who immediately takes it with a grin. " You are the best".

" You are such a child".

Emma hums. It may be agreement. It may be 'this is so good'. Regina rolls her eyes but cannot keep a smile of her face as she turns back to Henry. "What have you had for breakfast, dear?".

" Same thing you, but I would love some more"

" Your mother is a horrific influence " Regina tells him, but the smile she sends Emma's ways contradict her words. (that, or she must really like it that Emma is such a horrific influence). One gesture later and Henry has a plate in his lap.

" I am just going to start before ma finds another reason to interrupt me. Vampires are nocturnal creatures. They have a loathing of the sun, which if it does not burn them at an accelerated rate, at the very least saps their strength. There are various kinds and various legends about them. Some of these legends cite holy water as being a weapon against them, as well as garlic. Sometimes they have an obsession with counting things- " Henry glares impressively at Emma when she snorts " and there are quite some stories where they can shapeshift- into animals but also into immaterial things like fog. The can invade dreams and hypnotize people. They are as strong as five Olympian bodybuilders. They survive on a diet of blood and another person can become a vampire after their blood has been consumed several times- leading to them becoming more and more under the vampire's control- and they have consumed the vampire's blood once. Silver crucifixes are also supposed to help".

"I knew most of that" Emma snorts. " apart from the counting thing".

Regina ignores her. " It is good that we know exactly what will weaken it".

Henry grins. " That is not all".

" It isn't?".

" It is not?".

"No" He looks at Emma." When you talked about how the fairy tales were so different than the ones everyone knows from the brothers Grimm, I realized that you were right. This Dracula could be different. He could be immune to sunlight and garlic or have strengths we have never heard about".

He stands up, walks to the bed and removes something from beneath it. The book looks to be bound in skin, the litters are the exact shade of old blood and there is a strange buzzing coming from it. Emma grimaces as a sense of vertigo grows when the book comes nearer. She glances at Regina, who isn't moving as Henry approaches with the book.

He sits down again and opens it. "So I went to ask Belle for help. And she gave me this" He gently nudges it forward. " It is an expansive history of the creatures of the enchanted forest and the surrounding areas".

He flips a few pages, turns the book around. 'blood-sucking creatures' it says atop the page. "They do not have an entry for 'vampires', but I am sure they are in there somewhere".

Emma grimaces again. That sense of vertigo is only getting worse. The last time she felt like this, she was drunk and dared to spin around five times and try to score at beer ping pong again. Then Regina briefly touches her hand. " It is the book, there is a spell woven between its pages. I suspect the owner was not fond of magic users".

" That is a shitty thing to do".

" Indeed". There is a sudden flush on Emma's cheeks, the smell of a meadow oddly enough, the taste of strawberries and that vertigo slowly lessens. Regina's magic, although it has never felt like this before.

Regina pretend nothing has happened as she looks at Henry. " You have done very well, my little prince" she praises.

He sighs. " Yeah well, there is just one thing".

"What?".

" What is wrong, sweetheart?".

" There are like two hundred pages about blood-sucking creatures and it is really old English. The information about Dracula is in there somewhere, I _know_ it, but it will take me some time to find it. And because the index is a mess- " he scowls " it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Without magnets. And with a timer and a guy standing ready to blast your face off".

" Can we copy the pages and divide the work? " Emma offers. Both Henry and Regina glance at her. Then at each other, then at her again. Their identical expressions are a mix of endearing and freaky. " That is a good idea. Mom?".

She frowns as she looks at the book. " Magic will not work on it".

Emma shrugs. " So we will use a photocopier".

Henry jumps to his feet ( after pushing the plate to the ground) . "Great! I will go to the library while you get this" he hands them a short list.

"Henry, I am not allowing you to be on your own when there is a vampire on the loose".

" Kid, no way. I am going with you".

Emma and Regina glance at each other. They do the thing where Emma smiles first and then Regina starts to smile and just looks at her with this sad-happy expression.. Henry is pretty sure that he could leave the room and they wouldn't notice. Okay, maybe they would notice him leaving ( he knows he is really important to them). But there could be an earthquake and they would probably not notice that.

" I will be fine".

" Henry, we don't know whether Dracula- " Emma pauses for two seconds, is-this-my-life-now" is immune to sunlight or whether he can just like wear sunglasses and coats and gloves and not turn into a pile of ash. He might attack you".

" I will wear a lot of garlic. And take the silver crucifix. And a stake".

Regina glances at Emma. " I have a compromise" she turns to Emma. " What if we walk him to the library and leave him there with miss French, then continue to purchase the items that are on his list?".

Emma nods. " That seems fine".

When they turn back, Henry is already collecting their plates. Regina waves her hand and they disappear. " We should not be wasting time" she explains when Henry glances at her.

Emma starts to reach for the book, only to be stopped by Regina briefly touching her bicep. "It is really heavy. I am not letting him carry it".

" The warding will make you nauseous and dazed again. It is rather strong magic".

Henry smiles. " Good thing you guys have a magicless kid then, huh?

Regina thinks of Henry's eyes, bitter and pained, when Emma lost control of her magic. " We are very fortunate to have a son like you " she says, trying to communicate how special s _he_ thinks he is.

He grins at her. "I am pretty fortunate as well".

Emma feels so very proud of their kid sometimes. Times like this, when he says something that makes Regina _beam_ are definitely part of 'sometimes'. He is kind and smart and pretty awesome ( even if he is also a little rebellious and seems to have inherited her disregard for the rules).

He picks up the book while Emma picks up a crucifix and hands Regina some garlic. That is placed in her pocket. When Emma chooses several stakes and offers one of them to Regina, she merely lights a fireball and smiles slowly. " Well, I think we can be pretty sure that fire works" she says, then attaches the stakes to her belt.

They quickly drop Henry ( + a shitload of garlic, a wooden stake, another crucifix ) off. There is a quick discussion – Emma, we are _not_ handing Henry a flamethrower. Why not? It will work as well as your fireballs- they glance at the paper together.

-a bag of sunflower seeds

-resistance spell ( Mr Gold has the recipe/ ingredients and Belle said she would talk to him)

-Hawthorn branches

\- Iron/Salt

* * *

It is some hours later that Regina finds herself at Granny's. After a brief discussion, they decided – or Emma decided: 'you look like you are going to faint, you should sit down- that Emma would pick Henry up and then come to Granny's with him so they could have a debriefing.

Regina has just received her usual order from a smiling Ruby when she turns around and her chest pretty much brushes against the chest of the person that had sneaked up behind her. She scowls, already opening her mouth to rebuke this person when she looks up and-

Her thoughts are muted- the _they were entering your personal space without permission, that is impertinent_ hardly registered by Regina's mind- her muscles relax like she is sinking in a warming bath and when the woman smiles with those red lips Regina feels almost exactly like when she had her first kiss.

A nail scratches beneath her chin, little shivers erupting immediately. Regina can feel her skin goose bump. Whatever part of her brain is not drowning in endorphins, whispers _pull yourself together_ but the majority of her is spellbound. That nail forces her chin up and she stares at deep red lips that move. Her eyes slowly move upward and – she can feel her limbs freezing. She tells her hand to move and- what? Slap this impertinent _enchanting, lovely_ – but it won't obey. Somewhere , deep beneath the shivers that are worse now and the smile she does not want but she still has and the sighs she is only half-aware are coming from her mouth, there is that same feeling she used to have when she was Leopold's queen.

For one second, the eyes make her think of a beautiful smile – 'see? That's a start'- and she can feel her fingers wriggle. Then lips are pressed against her ear and she can feel the woman inhale, then moan. " You smell _delicious_. It must be the- " Regina can feel the nails tapping at her pulse point" magic in those veins of yours".

Regina can still barely move. She can open her lips- though it is agony- and even release a shaking 's-stop ' but no more than that. The part of her that is aware that – no matter how good it all feels- that this is wrong is slowly quietening. The woman chuckles against her ear and Regina can feel her arms on Regina's hips when her knees buckle.

She glances over the woman's shoulder and sees Emma Swan. She has not seen Regina – looking instead at Henry that is animatedly telling something- but the sight of Regina's family is enough to push through the rush for a moment. She feels like there are spider webs and dust in her brain that is now being cleaned and grabs the woman's hands. She digs her own nails in, then concentrates really hard.

The woman hisses as Regina's fingers heat and heat and heat until they're the temperature of boiling water. She doesn't want to hurt the woman- there is a curious absence of the vengeful anger she once had- but she is not going to just let herself be taken either.

" Get off me" she somehow manages to growl.

"We do love fiery women" is all the vampire says, throwing her head back and laughing. Her eyes glow for a moment, Regina's fingers do the opposite and freeze. Her breath snatches, she forces her limbs to obey but moves like a rusted robot and -

She can hear Henry's furious-afraid "MOM" , feel the rush of magic that comes from Emma, see the blur of Red that is Ruby –

First it looks like the woman's Iris is being swallowed by her pupil, then like there are blood vessels bursting/exploding. Those enticing lips press together, then open and Regina cannot blink as the teeth elongate into needles- tiny stakes- anything that is wickedly sharp.

There is most disconcerting mix of revulsion and pleasure when those teeth sink into her skin. Her body is wrecked by tiny shivers , accumulating until she can feel herself fall into strong arms. Her eyes water at the pain, then roll back at the pleasure. She wants to gag at the smell of blood, wants to inhale more of the woman that is still holding her. Her stomach is a mess, desire and revulsion playing tug of war inside it.

The woman pulls back, blood dripping from her lips and smirks " Catch, little saviour" she sing-songs, kisses Regina fast and hard before there is cracking and muscles stretching horribly- she turns into a bat. Regina sees a blur of colour - yellow, red, blue- in a sea of darkness. She thinks she hears someone call her name-

Darkness.

* * *

When she is aware of anything again, the first thing that registers is voices. There is a voice she recognizes as Snow, pleading and – afraid? There is another she knows is Henry's – hard and afraid and pained all at once.

And there is Emma. She is not screaming. She is not even raising her voice. Still, her voice somehow manages to seem louder than the other two. Regina wants to get up desperately when something in that voice tells her Emma is struggling to keep away from that dark place she receded to during the chase after Lily.

" I am going to find that t _hing._ And I don't know why you are holding me back- did you see what that thing did to her?".

" Emma, what you are thinking about- it is not _right_ ".

"Fuck right, I am protecting the mother of my son. I am going to burn down a whole nests of those things if that is what it takes".

" You have to think of Henry- if you dark- ".

And Emma finally screams then. " I am thinking of him! That is his _mother_ laying comatose on a couch" her voice is high and breaks.

" Emma- ".

" Do you know what happens in the original tale? The woman that got bitten turned into a _monster_. They had to kill her" Part of her wants to scold Emma for losing it like this in front of their son, part of her is in awed disbelief of how much Emma obviously cares.

She hears a sob, really close to her ear. She cannot feel anything yet and she suddenly desperately wishes she could: she recognizes her little boy in that sob, realizes he must be very close to her. It hurts even more than the bite did, hearing his anguish but being unable to soothe it.

" Emma" Snow says softly.. She can hear footsteps- presumably Snow's. " Henry is right there" she says.

"Yeah and what do you expect me to do? Lie to him? Say it is all fucking rainbows and sunshine when there is another attack? ".

" Regina is strong".

" You did not see her" Emma sounds small, suddenly. More like a little girl than the strong woman she knows.

" Em- ".

" She was paralyzed" it is Henry's voice, fragile and choked. She screams at her hand to do something, _move_ and at her eyelids to open. They don't obey no matter how much she screams and strains.

" She was- "there is a sob and silence for tense seconds." Standing there, with this pleading and terrified expression and – she was struggling, but it was really weak. And then you saw those fangs and – ".

He cuts off. She hears Snow whisper "oh Henry" she sounds like she might be crying. She can hear boots hit the floor furiously- Emma probably. She strains her ears and hears more footsteps, going towards Snow- David then.

For a while, there is silence apart from her own thoughts. She keeps screaming at her limbs to move, to just blink or wriggle her fingers, anything . Finally, the sound returns. It is Emma's voice- soft, gentle, tired- " We will stay here. All of us" and then Henry's – raw, exhausted, small – " Do you think she is still human?".

There is a long pause, Regina is now telling Emma that she better not mess this up. That she has to keep their boy happy. " I don't know Henry" there is a long pause where she hears Henry's breathing change like he is starting to cry again, or about to. Then there is Emma's voice, so very sure and strong: " But I know that whatever or whoever she is- she will always love you".

* * *

She remains in this state- weak, unable to open her eyes or feel anything- for who knows how long. She is almost never alone. She is fairly sure that Emma and Henry have beds next to her couch, Snow and David visit a lot and there are other friend and allies that come by.

Henry reads books he likes to her, asks " do you remember that time…" even though she cannot answer, just talks to her about what happened that day, pleads, watches movies that he narrates for her. Emma describes Henry – " Listen, I am sorry that I am bad at this but I am just going to try to describe it as well as possible okay? "- to her, tells her stories about all the people she searched for and caught, tells her how the town is doing . Snow tells her about how they know she will get through this, how she is resilient and strong, how her love for Henry is so beautiful ( Regina would almost think Snow is trying to torture her as much as possible to force her to wake. She would take it to her grave that she actually likes the visits). David sits with her , does not talk that much except to tell her how Snow and Emma and Henry are doing or whether they are any closer to solving the issues the town is having.

She does not know how much time has passed like this when slowly but surely, her other senses return. It is the smell of bacon at first, when they are making breakfast. Her sense of smell is weak at first , she never knows when it will disappear again. She feels Henry's lips on her forehead next and he gasps, drops the book he had been reading and she can hear his voice crack - "guys, there are tears on her cheeks, there are tears". Then Henry is sitting next to her, she has been trying so very hard to make her hand move and her fingers wriggle. He lets out one sob, one sad 'momma' and she nearly breaks.

Finally, she wakes. She has been fighting , her eyelids trembling, when she finally manages to wrench them over. The dusk hurts her eyes and she has to blink tears from them. She can hear Henry's slow breathing- he is obviously asleep – and the beat of his heart. She looks down and stares. Emma is kneeled in front of her, stakes littering the floor around her. She is resting her head on her arms, the arms on Regina's stomach. Regina reaches out to touch her without thinking

The reaction is immediate: eyes snap open and grab her hand. Regina hears one loud heartbeat, silence then very fast thudthudthudthudthud. Emma's eyes cloud over, Regina can read her own name on those lips but it isn't actually spoken. Then there are hands grabbing her arms, a forehead resting against her own.

 _I am ravenous._ She thinks, which is an odd thought to have at this moment. She wriggles her nose, inhales deeply. Something smells very good, so good that she can feel her stomach muscles contract like they're telling her to get it. She smiles at Emma. " Come closer" she whispers, not wanting Henry to hear.

Emma presses closer obediently, and a very small part of Regina comments on how weird her eyes look. She shuts it up, revels in the feeling of the woman so close to her , burning up and soft against her skin and-

She only realizes what is wrong when her teeth sink into the column of Emma's throat.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own OUAT. For anyone reading my other stories : I know I still have to edit some things and I am really sorry I didn't yet but I just keep forgetting. And I had very little time to write until now :( [ I still won't have much time btw, sorry]**

 **Thanks for the follows/favorites/ reviews. I really appreciate them :) I will react to them later, I am far too tired right now.**

 **Warnings: [ this is sort of a spoiler] there is a description of death, the drinking of blood, brief mention of suicidal thoughts.**

Regina is quite certain that the sound just got burned into her mind, stuck on replay, glued to her subconscious -ready to surface in feverish dreams.

Emma moans. Regina recalls a mix of revulsion and desire, but there is none of the first and plenty of the latter showing on Emma's face. Her skin is burning against Regina's own, she is close enough that Regina can smell everything – sweat, deodorant, just _her_ and – by the Unnamed Gods, Regina thought she was done resisting darkness. The first few seconds, it is like Ambrosia on her tongue. Regina's own eyes nearly roll back, then nearly flutter close. She forces them open.

She might have made a mistake: now she can see those long eye lashes against pale skin, that mouth opened, head thrown back in-

Regina yanks her head back, then freezes. She is used to dark impulses, constant whispers in her head , images, the nearly drowning desire to just use Hook's own hook to rip his stomach open and laugh as he sinks to his knees with a pain-stricken face. She is not used to this.

Fighting the darkness was frightening thoughts that snuck up on her- more and more and more until she could hardly detangle the ones that had any goodness from the ones that screamed for murder. Fighting the darkness was wondering whether it was just another hallucination or Snow's corpse would really be somewhere. Fighting the darkness was feelings of unimaginable anger that had her hands tremble, crushing sadness that soon hide itself behind that same anger.

One taste of Emma Swan's blood and the darkness feels like child play.

There are no thoughts or images. There is just Emma, with a happy smile and her neck offered to Regina like a fine wine. There's the blood on her tongue, that taste like a hundred of the best meals and feels like the best things- feels like Daniel's smile against her lips, the first smile Henry gave her or Emma Swan turning around at a welcome's party.

That is deceiving- those moments are good, light and filled with types of love. What she feels now isn't anything like that. It's .. greed- so strong she automatically reaches for Emma- and lust- she wants to sink her teeth in again…. Again… and again- and something she best describes as ownership-

She is trembling with all that , nearly losing, cupping Emma's chin when her mouth is filled with an awful taste. She spits. She wipes at her mouth, grimacing. Seconds ago, the warm blood in her mouth had tasted better than her cider. Now, it suddenly tastes and feels like she has been licking the rust of a pole.

She splutters. Emma looks like she is waking from a very deep slumber. " Did you just-" her hand starts to come up, fingers pressing to where there is some blood sliding down before she hisses and removes her fingers.

Regina thinks of that moment she is quite certain she would not even be able to forget if she cast the dark curse again. She is not certain it is the memory or the fact she _just drank Emma's blood, who is now staring at her_ that has heat shoot towards her cheeks. She licks her lips nervously, grimaces at the iron she tastes, stares at Emma's eyes that are fixated on Regina's lips ( _is it the blood that is drawing her eyes or is it-_ )

" You just drank my _blood_ " Emma exclaims.

She narrows her eyes until Regina can either completely embarrass herself or fall into defensive mode and make Emma embarrass herself. " And then you spit it out!" She sounds strangely upset about it too.

Regina reacts without thinking. " I was not the person pretending to be an actress in a pornographic film!"

Regina's eyes flit down for the smallest moment, following the flush that starts at Emma's neck and end at her cheeks. She is only briefly distracted by it: she can practically feel Emma receding into herself, too many emotionally strained things happening all at once and touches her wrist briefly.

" I might not have reacted much better" she whispers, mentally rolling her eyes at herself because they have apparently really sunk low enough to participate in sleepover activities like sharing secrets. Or at least, that is what it feels like with a young and vulnerable- looking Emma in front of her.

The blush becomes a little more pronounced. " You were being pretty X-rated yes" Emma manages a little smirk, then quickly gentles. " You also sounded pained and – " she swallows, her eyes hardening. Regina almost thinks she has to protect Emma from darkness once again as she faces a look that is – well.

" I wanted to destroy that thing for doing that you" Emma admits. She would have laughed at the idea of Emma ever being terrifying – dangerous, sure but actually terrifying? – but the look in her eyes is exactly that. Not to her, not when this is Emma whose eyes tear up as she tells her 'you have worked too hard to have your happy ending destroyed- seconds before sacrificing herself , but she does not know what strangers (or even friends& family) would make of her when she looks like this.

Sometimes, she finds herself thinking Snow and Charming have darkened their hearts all for nought – there is darkness in Emma still. Then Emma says things like 'we are no sacrificing you' or 'I don't believe that. I believe in you' and she laughs at herself for ever thinking about Emma as 'dark'. Emma isn't dark, isn't all pure/blank either, she is – yellow perhaps. Like the sun, whose rays can warm you when you are cold but also scorch you and stay with you in the form of burns.

And …. Now she has actually sunk to the point where she is likening Emma Swan to the a star that is tens of thousands kilometres away from the earth. Great. She is officially pathetic.

" what are you thinking about?" it is Emma's voice that has her aware of her surroundings again. She feels the scowl lessen, nearly become a smile ( _will you desist constantly smiling like you have been possessed by Snow already?_ _)_ until she forces her face into a semi-neutral expression. She leans forward and squints her eyes at Emma's neck. " I was wondering whether the bite will have any impact"

Emma freezes. "You think _I_ " she laughs tensely. " Regina, if I have to give up grilled cheese because of your sudden thing with blood- " .

" Evil queen, dear. It is not exactly sudden".

She leans in a little more- the dark of the room won't allow her to see the bite well. She glances at Emma again, which is when she sees an odd look cross her eyes for a moment, those same eyes flitting to Regina's mouth before blinking a lot and crossing her arms in an obviously defensive mode. Regina ignores it in favour of checking on the tense woman.

" ouch, _Regina_ " Emma complains when Regina hardly touches the bite mark. Honestly, her fingers were more hovering than touching it. She informs Emma of this fact, who rolls her eyes and throws her the usual smiling-exasperation look. She ignores it and slowly draws her hand back.

" You seem fine to me".

" Fi- I felt your teeth sink in, no way I look 'fine' ".

Regina sighs, summons a mirror. " Look for yourself".

Emma hesitates, then takes it. She squints her eyes. " I can't see, it is just re-".

Regina summons Emma's glasses, already reaches for Emma's hand before changing her tactic and ordering Emma to " turn your head my way". Emma frowns a little and protests , but obeys anyways. Regina cannot hold back the smile this time, secretly loving ( and being awed by) the trust Emma has in her.

She places the glasses on Emma's face, then brushes unruly blonde hair back. " There".

There is a frozen moment in time where she has her fingers pressed against Emma's temples, hair as disobedient as their owner falling into Emma's face again and brushing against Regina's skin, eyes flitting to pink lips that are wetted-

It is a frozen moment in time where anything would have been possible- where Regina actually can feel that Hope Snow is always blabbering about , where the saviour could be the queen's happy e-

" Mom!" she yanks her hands back and gasps as a third body crawls on the bed and throws its arms around her. The irritation and sense of loss is immediately vanished as she sees Henry's bright, wobbly smile. She brushes his hair back, kisses his forehead. " Mi principito" she whispers.

She can feel his arms tighten around her- " Mamá" he whispers back, eyes clenched shut. Then he pulls back a little, a stricken expression that makes her tense – who hurt her little boy? " Your inj- did I hurt you?".

She smiles. "Not at all, _cariño"._

He hugs her again, less tightly this time. She wants to tell him that she doesn't care if it ever hurts her, he can always hug her tightly. She pulls an arm around him. After a few minutes of this, he pulls back and looks at her. "How are you feeling?".

She touches his chin gently, wipes the few tears that escaped away. " I am fine, cariño".

He hesitates, then seemingly steels himself and asks " Are you a vampire now".

" I am not certain Henry". Her eyes flick to Emma, who suddenly has an expression that is a little panicked and gestures at her neck. Then mouths " Do I hide it?".

She sighs. " I – " she looks away, then forces the words out. " I may have made a mistake".

" A mistake?".

" I have accidentally bitten Miss Swan".

His head whips to Emma at the exact time that she exclaims " you can't accidentally bite someone. You pretty much – uh Henry?" she says the last words hesitantly as Henry has very slowly let go of Regina to scoot towards Emma and stare at the bite.

" Okay, do you have any sudden urges to drink my blood?"

Emma yanks her head back. " No!".

" Okay, so perhaps whatever is in mom's saliva needs some time to work, we just need- ".

"I cannot believe Regina Mill's drool is on my neck" Emma mutters at the exact moment Regina says " I doubt that I am already a fully-fledged vampire, Henry- " then glares at Emma. " And I do not 'drool' ".

" Yeah, keep telling that while I examine this bite mark. You made. On my freaking neck"

Before Regina can react to that, Emma adds " To drink my blood. That you spit out. Which makes the pain I am feeling now completely useless".

Regina arches her eyebrow. " And it would not have been if I had actually swallowed?".

" Okay, seriously, you suck at being a vampire Regina. Really, it is fairly easy. Bite and swallow. How can you mess that up?".

" My apologies, I had no idea I was speaking with the resident's vampire expert. Please do educate us on the perfect way to bite people".

" I am pretty sure you are more knowledgeable, with your not-sudden blood thing" Emma shoots back.

" Well- ".

"Moms! " Henry exclaims. He sighs, shakes his head. " Can the bickering stop for long enough that we can discover whether mom is still human or whether we have to set aside money for the monthly blood payment".

Before Emma or Regina can react to that, Henry frowns and looks at both of them. " Do either of you have any idea how many times vampires need to eat?".

Emma just shrugs while Regina thinks for a moment. " I suspect it depends on the amount of blood they ingest each time they drink from a victim" she offers

" I thought so too, but that still leaves questions. Like, if they drain the maximum amount of blood- which would be approximately 30% I think- will they be sated for a day or a week or.. ?".

" It might also have something to do with body mass, metabolism, - ".

"Obviously, but that means we still don't know. If we could look at a group of vampires, and take the average of that group, then we would at least know something".

" Okay, you bunch of dorks. It all good to speculate and think about stuff like body mass- "Emma interrupts herself. " which, by the way, means that if that is a big factor, that we really won't need that much blood. Your mother is not exactly Tiny's size".

Both Regina and Henry look at her. " You know, the gi- that is kind of confusing actually. Let's move on. Henry, have you already found something in your literally nauseating book? ".

" Do you think I would be asking all these questions if I had?".

Emma sighs. " I meant, did you find any information at all on vampires. Not just how much they need to drink- considering Lucy over here spit out my blood, I think we have some time- but on things like what they can do, their origins, what happens when a person gets bitten, the change..".

" No, just a lot of information on all the ways people can drink blood. There are a lot more ways than I expected".

Oh great, our kid is going to know things that is usually reserved to like psychopaths or just creeps in general. She turns to Regina. " Should we even allow a teenager to read shit like that?".

" Emma! Language".

"Our kid is reading about the many ways to suck someone's blood, I suspect that might be a tad more important than what language I use".

" I- " Regina looks almost soft and vulnerable for a moment and Emma is suddenly struck with the thought that the scolding was more habit than anything else. She doesn't know what to make of that thought so she just looks at Regina and how she bit-

I am never going to be able to glance at her teeth without feeling seriously… weird. Yeah, let's go with weird. Weird is safe, weird is fine. Weird is exactly the right word for wanting to ground her fingers in Regina's hair and pull her closer – to have those teeth buried in her lips and-

She coughs repeatedly. Stop this. Don't make a mess of this. You can't lose this. She finally looks at Regina again, who is looking her usual self by now. Emma looks at her and tries to not get caught on how Regina looks in the middle of the light that is slowly filling the-

' Emma!" Regina exclaims, voice somewhere between scolding and questioning, when Emma more or less throws herself at Regina. She is hovering above her now, making sure to keep Regina in her shadow. Beneath her , the surprise on Regina's face is slowly being taken over by annoyance.

" Regina, don't move" Emma stresses, pressing her body into Regina's when she starts to wriggle. Before Regina can miss-Swan her, she quickly says " the sun is out".

" Yes, so wh- ".

"Will you burn?"

Regina's face seems stuck between 'miss Swan ' and 'Emma', which is a weird thing to see. " I do not think so"

Emma moves slightly, glances outside where the sun is coming up. That is why she misses Regina glancing at her arms, with an expression she would definitely recognize. By the time she looks at Regina again, Regina has managed to hide that expression and tear her eyes away. " If we can't know for sure-".

" Ma. I think she is okay".

" I am not moving until I am absolutely sure that Regina is not going to like explode or turn to ash or just catch fire and vanish".

Regina pushes herself up a little. "I will be fine Emma. Now remove your body from mine".

Emma narrows her eyes. " No. I am not taking the chance".

" That was not a request, my dear, that was an order".

Regina pushes herself up a little more, glaring at Emma half-heartedly. " Get off me".

" No".

" Get- ".

" Regina I am not- ".

Regina stares. Emma stares more. Right between what little space is left between their bodies, there is a hand with a garlic clove on it. They glance up; Henry is a carbon copy of his mother, the same I-am-surrounded-by-idiots expression with the same eyebrow arch.

Regina slowly takes the garlic, not breaking eye contact with Emma when she takes a small bite and very carefully chews. She swallows and arches her eyebrow. "Satisfied?".

" Uh what?".

" The garlic has not harmed me Swan, so either the usual vampire clichés are wrong or I am safe from bursting into fire as soon as the sun rays touch me".

Emma stares at her. " You don't feel we- ".

" Emma! " suddenly comes from behind her. She groans a little when she realizes it is, in fact, her mother. Snow and Charming had decided to stay at the house (despite Emma's insistence that it was 'kind of rude, considering this is Regina's house, mom and not yours') after Regina started showing signs of life again. Snow had tried to hide it pretty valiantly- trying so very hard to be there for her grandson and daughter- but she had been shaken really badly by what had happened to Regina. Emma had been lost in her own anger and worry and pain, but it had been nearly impossible to miss Snow's eyes tearing up whenever she sat next to Regina's bed and held her hand.

She had looked small and young and terrified, no matter how much she tried to hide it for her family's sake.

" Emma, perhaps you could move off Regina? ". Emma is struck with how not surprised she sounds, about to ask why that is when she half pushed aside as Snow approaches Regina. She can't see anything but the side of her mom's face, but her voice sounds like she is crying.

" _Regina_ " her mom says, the way she says it making Emma nearly as uncomfortable ( _she is not going to break down or anything, is she? Please don't_ ) as Regina looks for a moment with Snow's arms around her. Very slowly, that expression changes and she almost looks content being hugged by Snow. Almost, because there remains a trace of something stiff and uncomfortable on her face.

Snow does not seem to notice, shaking slightly in Regina's arms. After what seems like one of those slow-motion scenes in a movie, Regina's hand strokes Snow's hair. It looks oddly familiar, like it is a small habit, something she – _She must have held Snow like this a million times._ Regina has given her small pieces of what being Leopold's queen was like (but only after Emma had said " It's not like I am attached to him, I never even knew him. And honestly? He married someone only a bit older than his daughter, that already tells me he was a fucking creep). Emma knows Regina pretended to love Snow until after her father's death.

Emma also suspects that it was not all pretending, that a part of Regina still loved Snow even if it sickened her a little.

"How are you" Snow gasps when she finally pulls back, but remains in Regina's personal space.

Regina forces a smile. " I am fine".

Snow frowns. " Are you lying to me? ".

" I am not".

" Regina- " Snow sighs and grabs Regina's hand. " You can tell me" she insists.

" Several decades and the darkest curse of all times tell me differently , dear"

" Regina, we are your family. We will _help_ you".

No matter how much Snow cares for Regina and how far they have come, how they have gotten so much better at talking to each other- there are some things Snow will never understand. Snow will never understand feeling like a burden (her dad put her on the highest pedestal he could find; Cora would have talked down every single one of Regina's achievements and Emma- she was sent away like she was an impulsive purchase) , can never understand loneliness that is especially sharp in the middle of a crowd, can never imagine pulling away from people because you are terrified of what they might d _o_ to you if you let them in- how they might wreck your insides and your heart, how all they might leave is the bitter sadness inside you and fresh scorch marks on your heart.

All of this is why she does not recognize the look in Regina's eyes, the same look that Emma translates so easily in " I am better off alone. It is safer. Neither of us will get hurt". She just smiles at Regina, who looks at her with a grimace of a smile. Emma loves her mom, she does, but sometimes she wishes Snow understood more about how not everyone has dwarves and werewolves and fairies ready to die and kill for you.

"I appreciate that, Snow, but I am fine. Honestly".

Snow squeezes Regina's hand one more , then let's go. " Okay. But if you are done feeling 'fine' , you can always come talk to me".

" I – . . will keep that in mind. Although I am certain it will be unnecessary, because – "

Snow is standing next to Regina now, the same expression on her face that Emma recognizes from when Neal tries to clumsily walk (and promptly falls, which often leads to tears and a stubborn second attempt). " You are fine. Absolutely fine. We heard you"

Regina stares at Snow as she gives Regina one last gentle smile before kissing David on the lips briefly and walking towards the kitchen. Regina looks at David. " Did you wife just _mock_ me?".

He laughs. " I would not call it mocking you. She is just trying to make sure you don't hurt yourself".

" I am not a child, David".

" No, but you scared her" David's expression becomes a lot less easy-going. Emma has not seen her dad cry , but during all the moments he allowed Snow to lean into him, he still looked very sad. And she knows it is not just because of shared hearts or other magic bullshittery; it is because he has accepted Regina into their odd family as well. " You scared all of us " he says.

"It was not my intention".

" I know. But- " David shrugs a little. "Snow would be heartbroken if anything happened, Regina. You have always been family to her, and we are not going to ever lose any members of our family again".

Regina rolls her eyes slightly. " As long as being part of the Charming cavalry does not make one obliged to repeat their motto constantly".

David laughs again, the gravity slowly fading from his eyes. " It does fit you though. You have always managed to find us".

" Leave, _before_ there is very little of you left to find " Regina says, but there is no bite in her voice. David just smiles at her, then briefly squeezes her arm. He ruffles Henry's hair, one arm around his shoulders. Emma catches Regina looking at them with fond exasperation. After her dad lets Henry go, he kisses her on the cheek. Before he walks away, he lowers his voice to tell her "You might want to cover up that bite mark or ask Regina to heal it , kiddo" there is no judgement, just amusement and mischief.

Emma blushes anyways, shrugging away her dad's arm and pretending very hard like she is not wishing for the ground to – _shit magic, don't think that._ She takes a small step back, disappearing into a hole in the ground sounding a whole lot less appealing when it can actually happen _and_ she would probably get stuck.

Her dad laughs again, stops when she scowls. " I am going to check on Snow. You want some pancakes?" Her scowl disappears as she realizes she is pretty hungry. " Please. Waffles would be great too" . She is really hungry. "And bacon, possibly. And eggs".

" I used to believe there was only one teenager in this home" Regina sighs.

" I need to eat well if I am going to act as both blood bank and Van Helsing".

" I am not certain you are suitable for either, my dear, considering your blood tastes horrid and all I had to do to break your resistance was whisper 'come closer'"

" You are going to regret saying that as soon as you are an actual vampire, that really wants my blood. And I have battled dragons, ogres- ".

" Falling and needing to be saved by your mother does not count as battling ogres".

" Who even told you tha- and that was just because no one bothered to tell me ogre skin is apparently a bulletproof vest! That is important information, why does no one tell you stuff like that?".

" Ogre skin is notoriously tough, even infants know that"

" Regina. I. Was. Not. Raised. There. No one taught me you are not supposed to shoot ogres- how would you guys even know? I haven't seen any guns when I was stuck in ogre land".

" It is not so much that guns do not work then that it is vital where you attempt to hit them. Some pieces of their skin are more vulnerable than others".

" It is not like they are going to just stand there while you try to figure out where to take aim".

" No. But that is the quality of great warriors, Emma, to see the war like a chess piece and make your winning move in the middle of deflecting an attack".

" I guess so".

" You are not a _bad_ warrior" Regina says, not liking Emma's expression and how it makes her stomach revolt. "Naturally, you are ungracious, without finesse, impulsive, disobedient, too impulsive- " She pauses, then admits in a tone that hopefully conveys indifference( unlikely) " but you are not a _bad_ warrior".

" That's a start" Emma says, looking at Regina with this expression that makes her heart beat faster, her head rush , her palms start to sweat- she attempts to trample down on the feelings and – when that doesn't work- find a distraction. "Where is David?".

" Grandpa said he was going to go to the kitchen and the food would probably be ready when you guys stopped bickering. Most likely even before it" Henry cuts in. He is sitting cross-legged on his own bed, the gargantuan book on his lap. Emma finally realizes that the dizziness is not in fact caused by blood loss, but by that book . Apparently, logic can never win in Storybrooke.

Without even looking at her, Regina touches Emma's bare arm for three seconds. There is the smell of mowed grass, the feeling of rain sliding on her cheeks and neck and the feeling of a warm body pressed around her. If it had been anyone but Regina , she would have been seriously freaked out. Now, she is just relieved that she no longer feels like she is going to puke her guts out.

" Your grandfather is a nuisance" Regina informs Henry, sitting down next to him. Emma scans the room- the three beds, the pieces of clothing and stakes on the usually pristine floor, the pieces of garlic secured to the walls and arranged around the beds- then slowly walks towards where Regina is looking at whatever 'interesting' passage Henry is pointing at. She crawls on the bed and peeks over their shoulders.

" What are we looking at?".

" _We_ are reading an enlightening passage on the process of transformation".

" Why are there no illustrations of bats or wolves then?".

" Firstly, we remain unaware whether 'our' Dracula is capable of becoming an animal or something incorporeal like fog. Secondly, the subject is not the vampire transformation, but the transformation from _human_ to vampire".

" What does it say?".

Henry sighs. " A lot. That's the problem. There are apparently a lot of different blood-sucking creatures and it is not very clear whether any of them are vampires – or just magical folk that use blood as fuel for their magic or rituals or something else entirely- ".

Regina lays her hand on his for a moment. " Calm down , _hijito"._

" We need to know, at the very least, what we can expect. We need a strategy. And we can only have one if we know his flaws and his strengths. If we go in there with garlic and it has no effect on him, it would be like marching towards a fortress without shields and with spears made of paper".

" Nice analogy kid, but I wouldn't worry if I were you". Emma nudges Regina slightly. " Me and your mom, we can beat anything together. Right?".

" It is true that two witches from our magical calibre being alive at the same time is unprecedented but it is no cause for arrogance".

Emma shrugs. " I don't think we are being arrogant. We have beaten a lot of 'unbeatable' forces these past years. The diamond alone was – _"._

" Food!" it is Snow's voice that stops the impromptu meeting. Emma and Henry smile at each other, grin and immediately lose interest in the book. As Henry jumps to his feet and runs towards the kitchen, Emma is right behind him. She can hear their laughs and shouts as they wrestle and push and run. She wants to feel incensed that Henry breaks important rules like no running in her house thanks to Emma, but there is a stubborn smile again.

It only disappears when she reaches for the book and is hit with a bout of nausea. _Peculiar. I remember the sensation being stronger than this-_ She stares at the book, reaches for it slowly. The first time she saw it , her stomach had lurched and if she had not been sitting, she would likely have fallen over. Now it is unpleasant yes- her stomach still feels like she has eaten something it does not completely agree with and her head is uncomfortably light , but it is alleviated somewhat. She suspects it has something to do with whatever had been wreaking havoc on her body, whatever magic or bacteria is in her blood thanks to that blasted vampi- the memory makes her feel unbalanced. There is that same awful mixture of revolt and desire.

She is roused from her thoughts by the voices of her family calling for her. She walks towards them and yes, maybe she is a burden and perhaps she should solve this issue on her own but for now, she is with her family.

And it is all good. -

* * *

The scenery is familiar. The fog feels pleasantly cool on her skin, the skeletons that rise from beneath their headstones are like old friends welcoming her home, the flapping of bat wings around her make her shoulder blades ache with the desire to be closer to them.

She stops when she is perhaps fifty metres away from the vault, ignoring the tombstones around her in favour of those who obscure her sight. One immediately walks towards her and even though her face is perfectly visible, all that Regina's sees is red lips as the woman approaches her. This time, she sinks into the embrace. There is nothing around them, just the thrills of cold skin against her own, the way her eyes roll back when sharp teeth touch her slow pulse and the hum that disrupts the quiet for a moment.

This time, there is no revulsion. There is sharp pain as those teeth sink into her arm, which is seconds later replaced by euphoria that has her wilfully sinking into the body at her back. She only realizes there is a second pair of teeth buried in her skin when her knees buckle and she gasps. Her heartbeat slows even more, the feeling of fingers brushing against sensitive skin and rougher touches continue until her limbs are lethargic enough that she can hardly support herself.

She can see the tombstones around them, the vault in the back of everything, the man dressed in black that hides him- apart from the glinting fangs - perfectly. She just does not feel anything- not the wind that rustles the leaves, or the cold that goosebumps her skin or even the terror that should have her heart race. She is calm, languid.

The man opens his arms, she is gently pushed towards him. Her hands are pressed to his chest, but she does not feel his heartbeat. There is no warm breath when his lips almost press against her cheek. Her head falls back obediently, a little sensation returning. She can feel him lick the blood away from her injuries.

There is a slight pressure on the back of her head, leading it down to where he has rolled his sleeves up and offers her his arm. There is already a long deep cut. She latches her mouth to it, grabs the arm with two hands, pulls it closer, sucks. She is vaguely aware of moist earth beneath knees, but all that truly matters is this.

She fades and colours all at once. The slightest hint of fear, the anger that buried itself beneath unnatural calm, such feelings are all muted. For now? The sensations burst with colour however. She can smell the earth, the subtle rotting of the corpses around them, the sweat of the living. She can hear the wind as it meets leaves, the insects crawling beneath the earth, an erratic heartbeat.

She is pulled up again.

Then the man holds her shoulders to turn her around, throws an arm around her. He sweeps his other hand out in a grand gesture, like a ringmaster presenting the new act. She licks the remnants of blood from her lips as she is led towards the final act.

It is Emma Swan, bound and helpless against the doors of her vault.

The man steps back, lets her go. She smiles: Emma's eyes light up. She approaches: Emma relaxes. She cups her cheek : Emma presses it into her hand. It is only when she presses against her; her body against a far warmer one and her open mouth against the veins in her neck that Emma tenses.

She pulls back, grabs that red jacket and easily tears it off her. Emma is struggling now, the gag in her mouth making her garbled noises incomprehensible. They would not have helped anyways. Her nails dig into that arm, drawing a line of blood. She drinks. Other arm, another line of blood. Emma is still struggling but less.

Regina pulls back a moment : tears are slipping between Emma's squeezed eyes. She draws her teeth over veins, laps at the blood. She ignores the fainter and fainter struggling , the warmth that is leaving the body rapidly. She drags her teeth up again, until they rest where she can feel faint heartbeats. Her teeth are already sinking in , ready to snap the bone protection when she drags them down again without knowing why.

She bits one last time, Emma's head hits against the stone, her body sags, there is one slow heartbeat. Her eyes are closed, the last tears clinging to her lashes. Her bounds are removed, revealing bruising skin. As soon as nothing is holding her anymore, her body crumbles on the floor.

Regina steps into the fog and becomes part of it.

* * *

When Regina snaps awake, there are about a thousand sensations flitting through her. She actually gags once, the nausea so overwhelming. It actually hurts, her heart charging into her ribs. She pushes herself up, glances around desperately. She nearly falls from the bed, nearly hits the floor because of trembling legs. She sobs once , her hand pressed against the chest of a curled-up Emma Swan.

She keeps it there as she crumbles, knees hitting the floor painfully. Emma mutters something, but fortunately does not wake to be privy to Regina quietly sobbing desperately.

Every time she thinks she can stop, she remembers the look in Emma's eyes, the way she felt her heartbeat fade, the struggles that became weaker and weaker and- she gags several times and the shaking increases. She tries to be quiet about the breaths she inhales and exhales slowly.

Finally, she pushes herself up. She looks down at Emma – her mouth that is a little open, her eyes that roll slightly, the way she is curled up- and she has to bite her lip hard to keep from crawling on that bed and just curling around Emma. She is cold and terrified and nauseated.

Worse, her teeth feel like she has submerged them into too-cold ice-cream and then tingle with that sensation that is in your frozen hands when you walk into a warm building. She knows what it means, can feel the sharpness digging into her tongue. It is another reason to not approach Emma: what if the dream becomes a prophecy?

There is an insane moment where she thinks of taking one of the stakes and piercing her own heart, her trembling hands already reaching for one, the angle awkward as she figures out how to do this- then she remembers her death would mean Emma and Henry would have to battle a vampire alone and the stake slips from her hands

She walks back to Emma. She doubts and hesitates and paces- as quietly as possible. She walks towards the kitchen, or thinks about leaving for the graveyard ( _make a deal, save them_ ) endlessly but her feet always lead her back to Emma and Henry.

Finally, she caves and stumbles towards the bed. She tries to talk herself away from that bed , but instead sinks into it. The last thing she feels is Emma's arms around her.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own OUAT. One day, I will edit all my stories( like operation out) and react to every individual comment. Today, I sadly do not have the time for that (school tomorrow & I kind of already didn't have time for this oops) but I really, really appreciate the favorites/follows/comments. You guys are the best!**

She doesn't want it. She wants it desperately. She can't want it.

There is still a slight iron tang, an aftertaste- there is first warm & perfect Ambrosia, taste of cider and adrenaline and chocolate melting on her tongue. The taste of cheese cake and cappuccino is more powerful than the bitter tang that follows. It is maddingly addictive.

The dream is a sequence of fast-flying images, sensations. It is cold hands buried in her hands, that helpless anger she fears from her evil queen days, the revulsive mixture of want and nausea, air tickling at her neck, fog clinging to her skin, the musky earth, the flap of wings and – her ears throb at the sound of what seems to be a howling wolf.

When she wakes, her chest feels like that wolf is laying it and she gasps shakily. Pushing herself up has never been so difficult, and the world is suddenly only colours. A yellow blur in front of her moves and she is vaguely aware of her own name breaking the silence in the room. It leaves her with a sense of vertigo and nearly has her dry-heave, how suddenly the world forces itself into focus again.

 _Closer._ Regina didn't mean to think it. She _definitely_ did not mean for Emma to immediately lean in. the nausea and vertigo is fading, leaving only a feeling as though she has been spinning around too many times. But- the idea that she just may have forced her will on Emma is-

"Emma" she gasps, feeling Emma's heart race beneath her hand as she places it on her chest. How far they have come- that Emma is hardly faced with her hand there, only glances at it briefly before smiling at her.

 _Clos- no! I am not forcing my will on her._ It is difficult. Her teeth feel like they're submerged in water from the Pole's, and her gums like the dentist's hand slipped and the dental explorer sunk into them. The last time her throat was dry and painful like this, she had a dangerously high fever. But she could've dealt with all of that.

Were it not for the smell.

She has had whiffs of Emma before, when they were fighting or during family hugs. She knows what Emma smells like sweaty after a workout and what she smells like when she has just showered. That was already bad sometimes, making her scold herself at how completely infantile it is to blush and feel butterflies.

This is much worse. This is a sudden awareness that Emma smells delicious, a hint of something she cannot identify intensifying the ache in her teeth, the unconscious leaning forward, the way that jugular looks embarrassingly and frightening inviting. Her head actually starts to hurt and her hands trembling as she clenches them into fists, fighting against the urge to suck on Emma's neck and break the skin there.

" Regina?" her hand is gently pulled away from Emma's chest and she manages to yank her eyes away from her neck to look at the frown that is kind of – _for the sake of your pride, stop imitating a lovesick adolescent._ She scolds herself, but it is more out of habit than true anger. Any of the things she catches herself doing around Emma- such as smiling like a fool- is embarrassing, but she has to admit it is also slightly amazing that she can feel like this. She still remembers the years of the curse, where feeling anything was an impossibility until Henry.

" Are you all right?" Emma says, still frowning.

" I am perfectly fine"

" Uh good. Mind explaining why you are suddenly in my bed then?" Emma voice is rough- probably from sleep- and her cheeks are slightly flushed and she smells so delicious that Regina has to bite her tongue not to lean forward and make a dreadful mistake.

" I beg your pardon?" she feigns confusion, tries to force her slightly sluggish and single-minded brain (Emma, Emma's neck, Emma's smell, _Emma_ ) to come up with a reasonable excuse for why she had been curled around Emma, her head pressed into the woman's shoulder before waking and hovering above her. Their legs are still tangled.

" You. In my uh bed?" there is a tiny grin and an arched eyebrow. " I am pretty sure that I would have remembered if we had decided to finally have a sleepover".

She stares at Emma with her patented 'what are you blabbering about, you idiot' for a moment before she remembers. The woods, a lost soulmate and Emma trailing behind her. She smiles without thinking, scolds herself again. It is still lacklustre- why should she not smile when Emma's eyes are slightly mischievous and her hair is tangled and she is smiling like that?- but she does it anyways. _It might ruin this relationship the two of you share. For Henry's sake, at least, do not reveal what kind of impact this woman has on you._

She manages to shrink her smile and take on a semi-disinterested air. "I must have gotten into the wrong bed when I returned from the toilet".

Emma doesn't really believe her , she can see that. _Wretched lie detector._ But she just shrugs and smiles. " Okay".

" O- yes. Fine. Do you wish to have breakfast?".

Emma grins. " Will you make it?".

" Naturally. You do not honestly believe I would allow anyone who is related to you in my kitchen, do you?".

Emma rolls her eyes. " what is that supposed to mean?".

" I cannot trust against my kitchen applications, when slight frustration will make you take apart my toaster".

Emma snorts. " _Slight_ frustration. Yeah, right". She gets out of bed, stretches. Regina pretends she is not staring at the way her shirt rides up, tells herself there is a perfectly normal explanation for this, one that has nothing to do with feelings thank you very much.

Emma smiles. " I will wake our resident teenager. See you in ten minutes?" and she is gone.

Damn. Regina tries to curb these feelings, the easy smile and the fond headshake and everything as she calls out " Do give the right example, NO RUNNING " and only hears Emma laugh. It is really difficult, however, when she knows Henry will be grumpy with Emma – only to brighten as he sees the stack of pancakes- and Emma will shovel food in her mouth while teasing Henry and complimenting Regina's cooking and even Snow and Charming are no longer the plight they once were.

She secretly loves mornings like this (even – or maybe especially because- she doesn't deserve them), finds them calming and even enjoys how three people might be talking at once and David is prone to knocking things over when he is recounting a story and it just chaos. It is things she had so little off growing up and now she knows how much she has missed it.

It is family. It is _hers._

* * *

It is perhaps two weeks later, weeks during which constant exposure to Emma Swan has made not smiling oddly difficult and her body has to suffer. Her heart rate triples sometimes, her mouth gets too dry and w _orst_ – her gum is constantly throbbing and her teeth feel like they're dipped in ice cream for artificial blood is apparently not enough. No, apparently she needs warm blood that preferably comes from a knight that sometimes( often) trips over branches in the woods when she is chasing things and hardly leaves Regina's side because "it is too dangerous , no fucking way".

Regina still has dreams with whispered voices, and fog and sometimes horrible nightmares that lead to nights of whispered conversations and hands almost touching, nights they never talk about. She has cravings that means she tried artificial blood which she nearly spat in Emma's face, her dignity the only thing avoiding _that_ particular disaster ( Emma still laughed at her expression though). She has had fights with vampires, their influence on her (and Emma, who she had spotted slowly bending her head back obediently as one of those vampires had obviously cornered her) tampered by the magic shared between them. Or that's Regina's theory for why she feels less frozen, less liable to be controlled by them when she is around Emma. The evil queen hasn't shown herself… but there have been rumours that make Regina tense and thinking _my fault my fault my fault._

Despite all this, these two weeks have been quite wonderful. Even with the years she has possibly lost with how her stomach and heart and basically all her useless organs sometimes( always) react to Emma Swan and Henry still has not managed to find all the information on Dracula, their family- including the two idiots, Snow and Charming- have been some of the best of her life.

Now, she is alone for what feels like the first time in those two weeks.

She had tried to stay away, she had. But like a small child, lost in the forest and hearing sounds, she had been unable to resist, unable to stay away. Every time she had raised her foot, told herself 'do not be foolish, leave" she put it down again. When she attempted to walk back to where she knew Emma was waiting for her, she had instead suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar part of the forest. It was frightening, this loss of control- the slight blackouts or trances that went with it

But she couldn't fight it.

And after a while, there was that strange sense of tranquillity again. Her own voice was screaming at her to leave, that it was a trap and she _knew_ but her entire body felt numb. It was difficult to describe even, this sensation of knowing you were making a grievous mistake but not feeling the usual reactions to danger. Her heartbeat was calm, her hands were not clammy and she could almost appreciate the dark beauty of overgrown plants , thorny roses and wood giants around her.

She arrived at a house. It was not small, but it was also not truly grand. However, it seemed like it was _trying_ to be grand, like it was intimidating a great castle overgrown by roses and such that kept a slumbering princess inside. It definitely had the stillness of such a place though.

When her hand pressed against the door, it swung open quietly. She did not hear it slam closed, but when she forced her too-heavy head to turn ( and she only managed to turn it enough to glance at the door from her eye corners) she saw it was closed. It should have installed a sense of panic in her- or at the very least made her tense and wary. Instead, she felt that same odd tranquillity as she glances around the room she was in.

It was – not dark exactly, but kind of like it was twilight even though she knew the sun was still shining brightly outside. There was furniture carefully placed around the room -sofa, antique table, armchairs- and papers with symbols scattered around the room. She automatically stepped towards the long wall that consisted of bookcases, her magic automatically started an itch-like feeling along her arms before she shivered. Magic. Part of the books were obviously magical ones. She wondered whether it were the ones she recognized to be made from human bones.

When she reached out for one book that made her arm tingle – the kind of burning tingle that your feet get after they have fallen asleep- , she only felt the warmth and slight nausea for one moment before she pulled and the bookcases 'opened'. She would have expected a long, swivelling staircase or at the very least a small one. Instead, it looked more like a ravine.

She glanced around, then made a motion. She clutched the stone she had transported from outside for a moment before throwing it in the mostly dark abyss before her. She should have heard nothing, at first. Instead, she heard something faint. It could be the air, it could be breathing far below. She still could not feel anything about it.

She did a quick calculation after the stone hit the ground. If her estimations were correct, she could not just jump. Not without most likely breaking her leg, that is. She decided to teleport , even though it was also dangerous. She could tell her body where to go- except she had no idea whether there was a wall or perhaps an object. Then again, she had done more dangerous and unpredictable things- such as stopping the diamond with the saviour on her side.

Roughly ten seconds later, Regina's heels land on what sounds like stone. She has heard horrifying stories about people who blindly teleported, getting stuck in walls or breaking bones or even transfiguring their skin and bones (all told by a gleeful Rumple) so she moves very cautiously, finally managing to feel something. The relief is only brief- soon there is that empty tranquillity again.

The fireball that was spluttering to life in her hand dies when she realizes she doesn't need it. It is all perfectly clear. She can see the stalactites, the slightly iridescent pool in a corner, her own breath before her, the cabinets against cave walls – the outline of the horrors floating in the pots that they hold- , the claw marks on the tables.. there are so many different colours- from the magic powders that are held inside the pots on a line of shelves, for example- and smells that she staggers back a little at sensation overload.

It is the far back that finally makes her feel the cold , though.

The heart has a part called the tricuspid valve, which looks like strands of (red) spider web pulled taut. That is what it looks like, and beneath- there is – she doesn't remotely know what it is. It is fat, and sort of round and it _pulses_. She gasps when there is an outline of and hand, the material moving wildly. Her heart finally gets the memo of 'danger. Danger. DANGER" and she steps back-

The cold fingers pressed against her neck make her freeze. She wants to rip herself away from this creature, and curses her body as it instead sinks into the embrace and the touch manages to make her skin heat despite the fact that there is a cold arm wrapped around her.

She tries to push back, screams at her arms to push up, her legs to move, any muscle to do _something_ – but there is a hand brushing away her hair and pressing lips to the side of her neck and she can't move. Can hardly even breath. The lips touch her feverish skin, drag over it and she shudders. She can feel the chuckle against her ear, and the fangs that sc-

Somehow, she manages to free herself. Her skin is burning, her mind is sluggish and walking if pretty much like treading through mud- or even quicksand- but she manages to put some distance between her and the woman. Feels the fire spark automatically at how she is looked at. In the struggling light of this odd room, she does not see any details- she just sees the woman's bared teeth, the way she keeps licking her lips, the eyes with the very wide pupils.

The last time she felt like this, her mother was threatening all she loved once again.

There is no thought , it is all instinct when she runs away. She can feel her heart now, thrumming against her chest and the burst of adrenaline makes sure that she is faster than usually- halfway there, she calls on her magic, the air around her already turning purpl- she weakly fights against the arms that wrap around her like an iron band and pull her back into soft body.

" I am not allowed" the woman whispers, lips pressed to Regina's ear. She can feel a sharp-nailed finger stroke her cheek. " But you won't tell, will you? " that hand is buried in her hand now and Regina pants as her head is pulled back, her eyes wide with fear and another feeling that makes her disgusted with herself.

There is already slight pain, those fangs starting to dig in when the woman lets out a terrifying growl and is pulled backwards. Regina hears sounds, but they don't register. Whatever meagre energy she has left, goes to keeping herself awake. The sounds are weakening, the dark increasing when a slight coldness on her arms makes her wrench her eyes open.

She looks perhaps six, seven years old. She has chubby cheeks and bright eyes- caramel ones- and long, curly brown hair. Regina automatically smiles, the girl giving a faint smile back. When she lets herself fall to her knees and presses against Regina, sighing softly as she pulls at Regina's hair. " Pretty" she mutters.

Regina tightens her grip on the girl as the woman growls. "Yes, very much so. Now move, so I can- ".

The girl raises her head briefly, shakes her head. " No mama".

" Not your 'mama'. And you- ".

" No ".

Regina has to fight her instincts when the girl raises her head and she is just able to see the dried blood on and around her mouth. She freezes, is confused. The girl is not really cold and she could swear there are no sharp-

" What do you want, then?" the woman growls, stalking towards them. Regina flinches slightly when the woman snarls, and reveals those teeth that had nearly buried in her once again.

The girl in her arms frowns, worries at her lip. Suddenly, her voice brightens. " Keep!" she says and Regina melts slightly at the expression on her face, so proud. She glances at Regina, who gives the approval this girl obviously seeks by smiling brightly (if weakly).

" Keep, ma-".

The girl pouts as the woman grabs a large stool and throws it against one of the cabinets, the oddly loud sound of glass shattering making Regina hiss at the slight pain in her ears. " _Don't_ call me that".

Regina manages to push herself up and throw a fireball when the woman stalks closer. The vampire laughs and when Regina blinks – there are very dark green eyes with specks of light brown very close to her own. She watches the pupils expand, the green slowly pressed away by black as the woman comes closer and licks her lips. " Just one taste" she mutters.

" I will never allow it" Regina croaks, trying to summon up the arrogance and cruelty of the evil queen. She just feels lost and tiny and embarrassingly afraid (and mad that she would ever try to be anything like the queen again). She might have even done something like whimpered , if it were not the for the girl still pressed against her and playing with her hair. " Stop it, mama".

The vampire growls. "last warning. Otherwise- snapped neck".

And that apparently gives Regina the strength she needed.

She smirks , then flicks her hand. The pained growl is satisfying, but the woman is already pressing the heavy bench away from herself so she snaps her fingers. The girl in her arms claps her hand with mirth as several pots explode and what- a _re those human embryos_ is inside them slaps the woman in her face. She wipes at the trail on her cheek, plucks several bent, pink things from her hair.

The girl throws her arms around Regina's neck as she teleports, careful to not go outside even though every instinct in her body is berating her for not doing so. " Will the sunlight harm you?" she asks the girl. She gets a blank look. _Her English is not that good yet._ She doesn't discern an obvious accent, but-

" Sunlight? Pain?" she asks the girl, who narrows her eyes in concentration. " Su-?"

" Sunlight, the- " she nearly curses as the bookcases slam open. She glances at the door- can she risk. The girl struggles, so she puts her down, grabs for her again when she starts to run towards the obviously irate vampire stalking towards Regina.

Already, she feels her muscles stiffening. She hates it. She hates the sluggishness of her mind and the rebellion of her limbs around these creatures. She hates how easily it is to give into the lure, how she has to use whatever little muscle control she has to bite on her lip to keep it from letting a soft sigh escape.

She stares at the woman with that hatred as she approaches Regina, the girl holding her hand. She is pulling at it as the woman leans in , pulling and hissing slightly and saying "no! No!" she is still pulling at the woman's blouse when there is a little smirk. Regina only feels breathless and weak and faint for three seconds- that tongue is _lapping_ at the blood on her lip – before the door explodes.

She really should tell Emma that battle cries serve no purpose, apart from telling the enemy that you are coming.

She would- but she is falling and tired and swaying. She catches a glimpse of a familiar look, the same fury and then coldness that she had seen when Emma had pointed a gun at a childhood friend. She struggles to reach her, _she can't. she cannot ruin herself like that, can't be like me_ , to tell her to not be a moron but she is already slamming into the woman with a furious scream.

 _Never thinking about consequences._ As the vampire easily throws Emma off her, Regina uses the distraction to throw another fireball. This one has the hissing woman stumble back, glare at her before smirking. She coos 'come here pre-tty" Regina almost does, her foot already moving forward, when she suddenly regains all control as Emma screams " YOU LEAVE HER ALONE " and fires a blast of light magic that throws the woman back and into a gargantuan fridge behind them.

She reacts without thinking, her only thought _EMMA!_ When she recognizes the woman is ready to lunge for the brave idiot that is using magic with one hand and fumbling for the stake in her belt with the other.

The world is blurred for a moment, her muscles burn and then she is on the other side of the room , with Emma _in her arms._ She arches her eyebrow a little, looks at the open-mouthed woman in her arms, then drily remarks "well, that is new".

The sound of a fridge being thrown makes her look at the vampire again. She is baring her teeth, clenching her fists and looks seconds apart from killing them both. She makes a quick decision, mutters " Hold on to me" to Emma.

Emma's eyes widen. "Regina, don't you _da_ \- " she clenches Regina's arms as she starts to run. She feels ridiculous at first, as her speed is nothing to write home to, then the world starts to blur slightly and stomach sorts of lunges and when she blinks, they are at the edge of the forest. She blinks at the sudden (if, fortunately, weak) sunlight, takes deep breaths of that earth/ wet leaves smell, and generally just basks in no longer being in a musky, eerie vampire nest.

There is just one thing. _I will have to go back for the girl._ The girl did not seem malnourished or unhappy, but she is not going to leave her with a creature like that woman. Even if – _is she one of those creatures? She seems to require blood to-_

" Uh Regina?" it is Emma's voice that forces her to focus on the present. When Regina looks at her, she is surprised at how close Emma is. Their lips are very close, close enough that Regina only would have had to lean a little forward to taste Emma's tongue as she licks her lips. " Why did you not let me- ".

" foolishly risk your own life?".

" I almost had her".

"Emma, we are not even aware what these creatures are capable off. You really have to be more-".

" I am not going to- damn it, Regina put me down, this is really weird". Regina is almost tempted to keep Emma in her arms- no matter how hazardous it would be to her physical and possibly mental health, when it means they're close enough they could 'accidentally' kiss, or she would only need to turn her head to slide her-

" Fine" Regina actually drops her when the tingling in her gums start again, trying to be subtly about pressing her lips together. Hoping Emma will take it for displeasure and annoyance. This plan slightly fails when Emma lets out a startled " what the – OUCH. _Regina_ ".

Regina doesn't know whether she wants to laugh or apologize several times as Emma falls on the floor and glares at her. She offers her a hand – " Can I trust you not to suddenly let go and let me fall a _gain?_ " . " Do not bite the hand that feeds you, dear, or are you forgetting I have those brownies you love that are waiting in my cupboard" – except she keeps forgetting about how she is stronger now so when she pulls…

Emma stumbles into her and Regina gasps as they end up pressed together, with Emma's hands on her hips. She smells Emma's lunch as she worriedly asks " are you okay?" and is acutely aware of how fast Emma's heart is beating. And how that makes her smell even – _for the sake of all the entities in the Enchanted forest, exercise a little control._

She manages to grit out "I am fine. Are you?".

" Eh, my ass just slightly hurts. That's all".

" Right" Regina really tried. She really, really tried but whatever awful poison is in her blood wins from her for a moment and her eyes drift to Emma's jugular. It is Herculean effort, but she manages to yank her eyes up. _Step away, before you do something that you cannot blame on this illness._ She would have. She would have stepped away. Except then she hears Emma's breathing stutter and her smell changes- to something even better, which is just unfair.

 _Karma. Always messing with me_. She thinks absent-mindedly as she automatically presses even closer to Emma. She is only half-aware of the startled gasp and the " what the fuck Regina, what are y-y _ou_ \- " , which is not half as interesting as the soft skin of Emma's neck or that –

Lately, Regina will insist it was the poison in her blood, or momentary insanity or just the only way she could keep herself from sinking her teeth into Emma again. She will claim a lot and Snow will smile gently and patronizingly, David will just laugh and briefly squeeze her arm and Henry – Henry will give her a look that she would see in a mirror if she hang one behind all the morons that somehow became council members.

It is not. It is just how she has started to want Emma Swan- how she had wanted to nearly break her at first, had wanted the challenge and excitement the infuriating woman brought, later had wanted her support and magic and finally had wanted everything of this flawed, occasionally thick-headed, brave and wonderful woman. Every shy see-that's-a-start smile and every eye roll after her sassy remarks and every weak joke and – just everything.

That is why she kisses Emma Swan. That is why her hands are trembling as they take Emma's face between them so she can press her lips to that mouth she has had too many dreams about. It is why she doesn't mind sighing this time, why she smiles against those lips as the hands on her hips tighten and slightly chapped lips are moving against her, the taste of hot chocolate in her mouth and she loves-

She nearly screams when Emma staggers back, pales and presses her hand to her lips before saying " I am _sorry_ "

And runs.

 **I have my reasons for this ending (but sorry, honestly) which will be revealed… possibly the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own OUAT. Thank you so much for the follows & favourites and everything. I appreciate it a lot**

She is angry. Or rather, she is trying very desperately to be angry, because anger will allow her to be cold and disdainful to the blonde mena- the blonde, to _Emma_ \- to pull her walls up and have them be as thorny as possible. It is humiliating, how she can't speak because even swallowing hurts but all she wants is that anger to will protect her, and how she digs her fingers into her own skin because _how dare you desire that anger. That anger is the evil queen's. That anger will hurt your family and it. is. WEAK._

Her sight is blurred, and every time she swallows it feels like she has to force several arrows down her throat. She wants to throw herself at something and have it hurt, for searching for that anger so desperately. _You have friends, family. You should be grateful for that. You cannot be angry._

She isn't. Or rather- she isn't at who she wants to be. She is furious at herself- for wanting this in the first place, for daring to think happiness is still something she is allowed to strive for, for any of the thousand times she was _weak_ , she doesn't even know- and she can only think how she keeps making the wrong choices, _somehow_. She thinks of the way Emma's muscles froze beneath her fingers - and hates herself when she can only think of the split-second those lips moved against her and her own lips started to pull up at the corners.

She isn't foolish: she knows what she feels for Emma. Some days, she can even appreciate it. Some days, she isn't furious with herself for how Emma's smiles can wreck her heartrate and how she feels breathless whenever they connect- magically, or just when they talk. Most days however, she is painfully aware of what she has done- of how Emma Swan deserves better than what she could ever be.

Unfortunately, knowing it doesn't protect her.

Fortunately, she doesn't see Emma for at least days after it happens. (and perhaps she further humiliates herself by sobbing into her pillow, and in an especially weak moment, she wakes hungover stares at a thankfully unsent message)

She is miserable and using all the skills learned from a mother like Cora, and a mentor like Rumplestiltskin to hide it. She thinks Henry might know ( he definitely suspect) and he is even smart and instinctual and caring enough to likely guess it has something to do with Emma. Especially since Emma has been trying very hard to avoid Regina, making excuses that ranged from "I've got work" to " I am looking for the creeps that kidnapped you" (she had never actually gotten to telling Emma just how she had arrived at the house in the midst of the forest) . And Henry is cross with her - as he had told her " I can't believe she is being like this, I am so sorry mom"- and even Snow is scolding her daughter - I am not mad Emma, I am just _disappointed_ \- like that wouldn't make Emma's longing to run worse.

Snow was family, but sometimes she still thought the woman was an idiot. Especially concerning her daughter, who happened to come from a _very_ different background and logically wasn't always understood by her mother. However, Regina would've expected Snow to at least be able to work out that certain things trickered Emma. Like disappointing her family (it was undoubtly terrifying to the lost girl Emma used to be; disappointing a family must have once meant losing them again)

Things were tense in their family right now- and Regina felt horrible enough that she had barely left her house the past three days. Right until Henry had enough of it - " Mom. You are hardly a threat to the public good anymore. You've saved everyone at least three times, and most of the people kind of love you" - and she was coarced to leave the house by a mixture of Mill's slyness, Swan stubborness and Charming - well _charming-ness._

 _Our son is a force of nature._ But she smiled for the first time in days as she was pulled along by a chatting Henry, listening to his stories about lessons and superheroes and writing ideas with the easy, proud smile only he could pull from her. She tried to scold him, but instead laughed when he yelled a greeting at Ruby in the middle of his story, then gently pushed her down and continued talking. "so I told him he was dumb. Because it is wonderwoman, d _uh_. So of course she would win".

Regina smirked. " I agree, thinking she would lose _is_ rather foolish".

" Right? Anyways, after that Ben was kind of sully. Until I promised we could meet at my place soon again" Regina melted as Henry grinned adorably. "I think he misses you cooking".

" That is rather sweet of him".

Henry shrugged. " Your cooking is just really good".

" Did you never hear about the rule, Henry?" Ruby had suddenly appeared. Years of experience had taught her to just come to the table because the two would be talking nonstop anyways, so it really didn't matter that she interrupted them.

Regina arched her eyebrow slightly - Ruby could almost hear the 'what now, miss Lucas'- while Henry just smiled at her. "You shouldn't compliment someone else's cooking when you're in a restaurant - especially not one where the cook has a crossbow"

" I am pretty sure Granny also prefers my mom lasagna".

" No, I don't lass! I have been making delicious meals long before your mother could even spell the word 'lasagna' " .

Regina bit her lips to hide her smile. " It is rather rude to listen in on people's conversations, miss - "

" Not when the people are blabbering about you, then you can listen in all you want. And none of that miss Lucas bull, Regina, or I will come over there".

" I am terrified. I am sure you knitting needles are very sharp after all "

Henry snorted, while Ruby shook her head and whispered " Are you insane? She has wicked precision with that crossbow of hers".

" I've catched your grandmother's arrows in the past".

Ruby's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh yeah. You know, if I hadn't been kind of angrily terrified at the moment, that would've been so awesome".

Henry nodded. "It was pretty bada- cool".

" Do I need to test your arrow-catching skills, your majesty" Henry grinned at had walked over, which she often did when the dinner wasn't too crowded. She was scowling, but her eyes told him that she wasn't really mad or anything. Just some friendly teasing, which showed his mom had really become part of the Charming family.

" I would not want to harm your ego like that, dear" Regina immediately shot back, the disinterest in her tone and general tone obviously fake. Her eyes were glinting slightly as well.

Granny huffed. " Ha. As if you could!".

" I could catch anything you throw at me".

Henry interrupted the friendly bickering-goading when he was suddenly struck by a thought. " Mom! " .

" Yes, mijo?".

" You should".

Regina frowned. " I should .. catch arrows?".

" Well yeah. It is the perfect way to test your speed , right?".

" Henry, I have told you before - I am not certain it is wise to experiment with my newfound 'talents' " . _I have just rejected the darkness- what if I hurt you._ Regina felt like she had participated in that foolish 'ice bucket challenge' that Emma and Henry had been talking about before all of this happened. There was so many ways to accidentally hurt Henry.

Henry scoffed. " Mom, you would never hurt me. And- I really think we should gather more intel. And because you won't let me sneak into that house - ".

" Henry. Under no circumstances are you to _ever_ enter any building that has those creatures in it. Understood".

" Yeah. But regardless, if you won't let me find out stuff in that way, we need something else. And I don't think your powers are evil or anything".

It was only years of conditioning by her mother - manners, Regina, are important if you want to marry- that kept her from shifting in her chair. " I hope not" she said, with a glance at Ruby ( Granny had walked back into the kitchen now that the 'fun part' was over). She just smiled.

" Well, I don't think so " he hesitated, then asked. " Or - what does it feel like?".

 _Like having run a marathon in the burning sun, and forgetting to drink. Like rubbing ice cubes over your gums._ Regina had to swallow, both figuratively and literally. She had to swallow the urge to wrinkle her nose with disgust as she swallowed more spit than she thought she could produce. But that was what it had been like, an incredibly itchy and dry throat alternated with moments where her salivory glands were working overtime.

" Mom?".

Regina shook herself. _Even as a teenager, I never had issues with my concentration like this._ " I- right, what it feels like. It is difficult to describe. I am experiencing several things, Henry" .

" Like what- ".

Regina glanced at Ruby. "Perhaps we should order first?" . Ruby's pout showed that she understood that Regina had ulterior motives ( namely getting the gossip away from her private business)

" Yeah okay. Hot chocolate with cinnamon, fries and a burger please".

" Henry, please choose at least something _moderately_ healthy. You have already eaten too many unhealthy things the past days".

" The burger has lettuce on it".

" Fine. But only because I will prepare a nutritious meal tonight. And tomorrow. And- did Emma already tell you what she will be preparing for you friday?" Usually, they have family dinners on friday even though every other week it's 'Emma's' friday. But Regina suspects there won't be any family dinners for a while.

Henry snorts. " Mom, I am pretty sure Emma doesn't even plan what she is going to do in the next hour, let alone two days later. She usually just goes to the store with me, and lets me pick something ".

" I will choose something then" _Perhaps risotto. I still have not tried that recipe._

"Okay, sure. Are you going to order now?".

Regina sighed, then chuckled. " Of course. I would not want you to explode with impatience, after all"

Henry rolled his eyes, but he returned her grin. She turned to Ruby. "A chicken wrap, and a coffee please"

" Sure, madam mayor" Ruby immediately said, grinning. Like her grandmother, she liked to tease. Which was why she still called Regina madam mayor, even if they had become somewhat friends thanks to Snow's habit of holding events where she tried to drag Regina off to talk with everyone ( including _dwarves._ She had come to tolerate Grumpy. Tolerate. _Not_ like him, like Henry insisted she did).

As soon as Ruby disappeared with a wink and a "coming right up, mayor Mills" , Henry tried to convince her. " Come on mom, we _need_ to know more. The book is still not giving enough information!".

She briefly touched his hand at the aggravated tone. "Henry"

" I know- I just, what if you suddenly get worse? What if the transformation isn't over yet, or the vampires try something again o-or" Regina left the booth and sat down next to him, throwing an arm around him at the sight of his crestfallen expression. " todo estará bien, mijo"

" You can't promise that "

" Corazón- ".

Her own eyes burned at the sight of his wet eyes, and the tear trails on his cheeks. " No! You can't" he hugged her really tightly for a moment, then pulled back again but stayed close. Before she could reassure him that she was fine, that she wasn't dying or anything, that they would find a solution, he whispered something that made her bite her lip really hard to keep from crying herself. "No me dejes mama, no me dejes"

She hugged him again. " Nunca, mi cielo".

When he was calmed down enough, she slowly pulled away again and grabbed a tissue from her purse. As she gently wiped away his tears, he leaned against her. "I thought you wouldn't wake up anymore. That my family would get broken".

Her hand stilled. " Henry, you would never be alone. You would still- ".

She almost flinched at the angry tone. " I don't care! Nothing is okay if I don't have my entire family" she had a flashback to a four-year-old Henry, the one who was terrified of the old creaking oak tree, to the point where he would grab her hand so very tight and hide his face. " You are my _mother._ I love you".

"I love you too , sweetheart, I love you so m-much" a few tears slip. But she manages to keep the rest back.

" Then at least do something, _please_ ".

Regina sighs. " Like what?".

" I don't know. Just- at least feed or something".

" Henry- ".

" Mom. I am not stupid. I can see you're hurting, that you're becoming more frail and have less energy and- I think you need blood. " he adds the last part in a really quiet voice.

" I am fine".

Henry huffs. " Yeah, right" he is quiet for a while, then: " you wouldn't have to hurt people. The hospital always has blood available".

It is odd, how the cold in her gums intensify while she feels slightly nauesous at the idea as well. _Of course I do, I do not wish to drink blood. Old, cold blood. So unlike Emma's warm-_ She nearly flinches at that thought. She has been having thoughts like those a lot , but it still unbalances her.

" I will think about it" she finally says, allowing Henry to pull away.

" Promise?".

" I promise"

He seems calmer now, almost relaxed. He even smiles brightly at her, and glances at the kitchen. " I think the food is ready " . She loves how he can still get excited about things like that. About food, and comics, and video games.

She waves Ruby , who had been waiting for a sign that they didn't need some time and space anymore, over. She immediately saunters towards them, hands Henry his food and drink with an affectionate " There you go Henry, try to eat a little slower than usual so you don't choke" and a head ruffle before turning towards Regina.

Her smile abruptly drops. As does her stomach. When she tries to think, all she gets is 't _hirsty'_. Her eyes flit down, to where she can suddenly hear a heartbeat like a drum, all thumpthumpthumpthump. She hisses, her gums suddenly burning like she has drunk hot chocolate far too quickly.

" Ruby " she says. She is aware- _but why_ \- that she should tell the girl to leave, but all she wants her to do is closer. She thinks that sound may have been a plate falling- who cares when Ruby is coming even closer than she had been previously and she _she smells so good._

 _The sound is nice too_ Regina thinks when Ruby moans really softly as she yanks her forward and immediately slides her lips over her skin, following the path of blue veins towards - she only realizes the growl was all hers three seconds after it happened. She gasps as it all comes rushing in- the sounds of hushed whispers and yells, the smell of coffee and all the other things you can buy in this diner and the furious-worried face of Granny Lucas.

The crossbow still pointed at Regina.

The arrow planted in the wall next to her, its feathers tickling Regina's skin when she turns her head. The blood on her cheek, the wrong colour when she lowers her hand again.

" You got three seconds girl. You back - or do I need to point this thing at your heart? " it's Granny's growl, and it prompts Regina to lick lips that feel dry and kind of burning before croaking " I am back, I believe".

" Ruby, come stand next to me".

" Gran- ".

" _Girl_ ".

" Granny- she wasn't going to hurt me".

Regina feels pleasant shivers, and very unpleasant ones crawling and jumping over her spine. _She wants this. If I as much as insinuated I wanted my teeth burried in her neck, she would let me._ Ruby's eyes are black, with gold pulsing underneath. She makes an angry sound when a hand wraps around her wrist , and tries to pull her back. Regina might be growling herself.

" Gra- " .

" Shut up "

Granny's hand, the one that is holding her crossbow as she points it at Regina, is trembling. Regina takes another step towards her- _when did I stand up, exactly-_ and keeps staring at her as she smiles at Ruby. "Ruby?" she immediately yanks herself free and presses against Regina. Who is only barely aware of a harsh voice, and the wood in her right hand. She tosses the arrow back, in the direction where she can feel the other woman is still standing.

Ruby tastes amazing. There is only a slight hint of iron, an aftertaste really. The first impression is spices and meat and- her magic flares, something explodes and she only barely catches Ruby when her knees buckle. She lays the girl behind her, then slowly grabs the arrow in her shoulder.

" Last warning. I don't want to hurt you Regina- but I will if you don't leave my granddaughter alone". like earlier, it all comes rushing back. She is aware that it is _Granny_ standing there, and that she is trembling slightly but that her lips are pulled tight. She won't hesitate. The boy next to her- that's Regina's son. Regina's brave, kind boy and he is _screaming._ She thinks he might have been screaming her name first, but now it's all " don't hurt DON'T HURT HER DON'T " as he struggles against the person holding him.

Regina collapses, falling on the seat of the booth.

She almost pushes Henry away- _you could get hurt, you could get hurt, you could hurt_ \- but ultimately, she cannot bring herself to do so. He sobs as he rushes into her arms, and she pulls him towards her and watches Granny over his shoulder. She still has to lower the crossbow.

" I am sorry, I am s-so _sorry_ ". She likes Ruby. She could've hurt her. Usually, this would be the part where she gets angry and fights something - preferably the monsters who did this to her. She should toss her fireballs at their faces- surely fire can still destroy them.

In fact, she might have - were it not for the hand that's suddenly on her shoulder.

She tries to breathe through her mouth only, but it is useless. Ruby is still there, and Regina can smell her, and the blood still on her lips tastes delicious and. She wants _more._

She grits her teeth, tries to push the hand away. " Ruby- " the fool just smiles- and Regina feels her control slipping again when she leans in. She feels something that may be teeth sliding out in her mouth when Ruby murmers "It's okay. I know you won't hurt me. You have my permission".

Before Regina can do something admittedly stupid, something she will regret, Ruby yells "hey!" and throws her grandmother an affronted look. Granny just rolls her eyes, tightens the hand around her granddaughter's arm. " I am not going to let you be bitten by a _vampire._ Isn't it enough to be a werewolf?".

" I wouldn't immediately turn into a vampire" Ruby pouts.

" _No,_ Ruby".

Ruby sighs. " But she needs blood, doesn't she?".

Regina can function normally again, now that there is a little distance between her and Ruby. " That is a very bad idea, miss Lucas".

Ruby turns to her. "No, it isn't. I don't know how long you can go without blood, but I am guessing not that long before it turns really unpleasant. I heal faster than most people, so it is pretty safe to bite me" . She grins. "And it feels pretty awesome- really, I wouldn't mind. At _all_ ".

Henry stands and wrinkles his nose at Ruby. " Ew"

" What? It does! It kind of feels like- ".

Regina quickly raises her hand to stop Ruby. " That is enough , miss Lucas",

" Maybe I was going to say it just feels like eating sundae".

Regina snifs. "I very much doubt that".

Ruby's grin widens. "You are also really hot, which probably- ".

" Ruby!" Henry throws her the most exagerrated, betrayed and revolted look.

Ruby just laughs and playfully pushes him. " Come on, surely you have heard that before "

" I don't w _ant_ to hear it" he narrows his eyes at her. "And you have a girlfriend".

"It is not like I am offering to sleep with her- I am just offering my blood".

" Please do not ever say the word 'sleep' in relation to my mom ever again. Ever".

"Okay, whatever mister sensitive".

" Ruby, please stop torturing my son. And I am not going to bite you".

" I am just asking for a repeat performance "

" Mom!" Henry scolds, when Regina cannot help herself and smiles flirtatiously at Ruby. _Stop that!_ At least she manages enough control to not say Ruby's name like that again.

" My apologies Henry, but- ".

"You know, we could always go upstairs" Ruby offers.

Regina arches her eyebrows. " I am a queen, and have a bit more class than that".

" Yeah, _right_ " Ruby says. She looks like she is going to add something, but then she glances at Henry and shuts up. Granny snorts, and finally lowers the crossbow.

Henry sighs and looks at Regina. "It might be a good idea, you know" before Regina can say anything, he quickly clarifies. "To drink her blood".

" Henry. In most tales, vampirism is strongly linked to mind control. It could be very dangerous to drink anyone's blood"

"Maybe. But it is also dangerous if you don't! ".

Granny sighs. " I cannot believe I am saying this, but perhaps the boy is right" she gently touches Regina's shoulder. And says... something. Regina doesn't really know. She is distracted for a moment, and she clears her throat but it doesn't make the feeling any better. Without thinking , she grabs Granny's hand

It is yanked back. " Don't even think about it, I am not your walking juice box ".

" I was hardly going to bite you. Your blood - it is less appealing".

Granny scoffs. " You did not seem to mind two seconds ago ".

" That is likely because I am still very thirsty" Regina admitted.

" So you think you wouldn't drink Granny's blood if you weren't like _really_ thirsty".

" I think so"

" So it matters whose blood it is? ".

" Yes. It smells different- and it makes me feel different".

He wrinkles his nose. " Like, when you drink it".

" No, more like- when I am around people".

" Wait a minute" he quickly grabs his bag, that he had placed on the ground when they entered the diner, and takes out a leatherbound notebook, and a pen in the shape of a lightsaber. "Okay. So what does it feel like?".

" All the customers are calmed down again, and I think some of them are getting antsy "Granny remarks, looking at severely grumpy-looking people. She looks at Regina. " Can I trust you to only set your teeth in actual _food_ , not humans?".

" I am in possession of something called self-control, miss - _Granny_ "

Granny snorts. " Didn't look like that just minutes ago, little miss selfcontrol. Try to keep your teeth tucked in, or whatever" Regina weakly glares at the woman as she marches away, to the counter.

" Should you not get back to work as well?" she asks Ruby.

" Nah. I am entitled to a lunch break anyways" she plops down next to Regina- or tries to. Before she can , Regina stops her with her hands on Ruby's hips and gently pushes her towards Henry. " Sit next to Henry, dear, not me" her fingers tighten on those hips for a moment, and for a crazy second she thinks about pulling Ruby in her lap.

She tries to be subtle about putting more distance between them, even when Ruby sits down next to Henry with an eyeroll and a little huff. She forces her focus back to Henry. " What did you want to ask, mijo?".

He clicks his pen. " The blood thing. What does it feel like, and smell like. How do you feel right now - do you think you really need to feed right now or is it okay?" he points the pen at her. "And no lying! I will know it, and you can't sabotage the research like that".

Regina feels warm, and light, and automatically smiles. "So you have inherited Emma's 'superpower' now".

He just shrugs, then watches her impatiently. She brushes away a stray lock and stares at her plate. _What is the best way to explain?_ She tries to think back to what she felt when Ruby got so near. And compare it to what she has felt around other people. " My senses are sharper. That is one of the things I noticed immediately. My sense of smell has also improved immensely- so I can smell their blood now. And it's iron but it is also very specific".

" Specific?".

" Yes. Miss Lucas, for example, smells like the earth and spices".

"Oh. What do I smell like?".

"Why do you want to know? ".

" I am curious".

" That new aftershave you 'borrowed' from David. It is quite... overwhelming".

He blushed and looked down. She clumsily reached for his hand and squeezed it once. " It is smells perfectly fine to humans Henry- it is just a bit much for someone who can smell extremely well".

" You sure?".

" Of course".

"So what does my blood smell like? ".

She sighed. _Why did I raise him to question things again, and to persist?_ " You smell like ink, and old books and chocolate".

He stares at her. " That isn't what my _blood_ smells like, isn't it?".

" No, but- it is kind of difficult to explain Henry. The most I can offer, is that your blood smells sweet with only a hint of bitterness".

" Oh cool" . He scrabbles something in his notebook. " So have you ever wanted to drink mine?".

She inhales sharply, brings her hand to her forehead for a moment. " Henry- "

" Mom. I don't care, okay? Like, of course I care that this is happening, that you are in danger and everything but if you have ever wanted it- it won't make me look at you differently".

He is so sweet, so understanding and caring. She smiles at him, forces down the tears that are threatening again. " I know, mi cielo, but - this is all just very confusing".

" Okay".

She sighs, then admits " I have- It was not as pressing, or overwhelming as it has been around other people. But I am thirsty and - " She tries to smile, but it ends up being more of a grimace. _This thing I am turning into does not care you are my son, and that I love you and I would never do something like that._

" I get it. But- "he scrunches up his brow a little. " it is far stronger around other people? ".

" I- yes. I hardly even have to attempt to control myself around you. It is more that the thirst gets stronger than that I truly want to drink your blood".

" Hm. Interesting. What about gramps and grandma?" her heart aches, like someone froze it and then grabbed it to squeeze it like one of those stressballs Archie once had the nerve to offer to her. That small grin- it is all Emma's. " Do you want to drink Snow White's blood really badly? ".

She manages a chuckle. "Surprisingly, no. It is- with Snow, the thirst is managable. It is worse than around you - it feels like you have not drunk anything yet, and it is already in the afternoon, and you see a glass of water somewhere. It is that feeling. But it is nothing I cannot ignore, or even something that would be in my mind for a long time".

He scribbles that down as well. " And grandpa?".

" It is different with your grandpa. If I forgot to watch myself around, something might accidentally happen. But I have a feeling that I would have to be incredibly thirsty for that to happen".

"" Huh. What is different about Ruby and Emma then?".

She tries to hide how that unsetttles her, but she can still feel her eye twitch just a little bit. "Emma?".

" Well yeah, you bit her didn't you?".

" I am certain that was merely because I had only just been... changed Henry".

She sees her own you-do-not-fool-me-you-imbecile look thrown back at her. " Mom. I have seen the weeks after. There were at least three accidents where it almost happened again. _Three._ And you kept- you kept using the Thrall".

" The Thrall".

He grins for a millisecond. " That is what I call the mindcontrol thing. Pretty good, huh?".

" I am certain I did not- ".

"Mom, you totally did. It is not like I am accusing you or anything, okay. I just noticed that you used the Thrall to like get her closer?".

She feels like the oxygen in the air has suddenly replaced with poison, poison that makes her lungs burst, her stomach lose all functionality, her self-loathing pretty much explode like a volcano.

" Mom. It is okay" she shudders and looks down at her hand, which Henry is gently holding. She can't look at his face. _He loves Emma. Surely- he wishes something better for her than me._ " Mama"

She glances at him. " If that is what I did- it was never on purpose Henry. I would never- " She thinks of arranged marriages, and she used to hope desperately that Leopold would be called away that night. She thinks of Emma's face, grim and dark and pained, as she laughs and tries to pretend the creeps that looked a little too long, touched a little too much - or just wanted her to do things for them that would get them into trouble- when she pretends that was nothing. " I would never hurt her. Not anymore- ".

" I know. Duh. Mom, you have stood up to Gold for her, and risked a lot for her, and you cook for her when you know she is going to have a long day for work. Seriously, how many times have you given me food that I should give to her?".

" We are friends" it is the only thing she knows to say.

"Yeah. And I think it is great and all, but- " he steels himself, raises his head slightly. " what happened? Why is mom trying to run again? " it is a question he has asked a lot, and the answers she has given ( "I don't know". " she told us, she is busy") have not been believed.

" I have told you that it is miss Swan's- ".

" Mom. Will you just be truthful, _please._ I hate this , okay? I hate that she doesn't just barge in anymore, and that you are subdued, and that grandma is sort of fighting with mom and I _hate_ how we might not have family dinner tomorrow or the day after or the day after that. We need to stick together. You are in danger, and mom is _running_ " he sounds like her, so angry with a lot of pain and fear hiding beneath that anger.

She touches his chin gently. " Your mother will not run forever, Henry. I am sure she will realize what she is doing, and apologize to you".

"She shouldn't apologize to me, I still see her. She is mistreating you. She should be there to protect you!".

" Henry, I can protect myself. Better than ever, actually".

" But what if you get bitten again, or they kidnap you or they force themselves into your dreams. It is only Emma that has kept you in bed these past weeks. If she hadn't stood guard, and been around you and everything, you would've gone to the graveyard again".

That much is true. She feels herself smile at the memory of Emma holding her hand to keep her from getting away in her sleep, or waking and seeing Emma sit in the chair in front of the bed, or any of the other silly things that Emma did because she cared. Because they were friends. _And you ruined all that. You are hurting your family. Again_

" I am just saying mom, we need Emma".

" I know, Henry, but this is Emma's choice. Not ours. She has to decide for herself what she wants".

" But- " .

" Henry"

He shuts up, but she knows this isn't the last time he will bring it up- and if he won't bring it up again, he will try to find some way to get Emma to at the very least talk with her again. She knows the look in his eyes, knows him well enough to be aware he is already concocting a new operation. She doesn't really know why she does not try to talk him out of it. Probably because she knows it will not work anyways.

Or perhaps it is just that she misses Emma too much.

* * *

She should be colder. She can feel the cold- but it isn't touching her. That doesn't make sense , but it is like walking in the Snow wrapped in really thick clothing. She breaths and it is visible, she can feel ice beneath her feet and when she tries to light a fire- it freezes before her heavy limbs and struggling magic can make it work.

" What do you want?".

He steps out of the fog. Or perhaps he stops being part of the fog. When he spreads his arms wide open, his cape billows behind him. _There was not any wind just now._ " You, my dear, you".

She almost tries to channel the evil queen before she gets nauseas by the thought that she would still cling to that, even now. Instead, she just shrugs and crosses her arm. She purposefully slides her eyes over him, making sure to keep her expression as bored, as disinterested as possible.

His hands feel like an electrical shock and a snow storm all at once. " I believe you to be the perfect fit for my family, Regina" the evil queen probably would have ripped his hands off by now. Regina just stands stockstill as he slides them from bare shoulders to her hips. She waits one more second before she pushes him, hard.

She notes he doesn't breathe when she steps close enough that their lips could brush, pushes him even harder. " You- " she pushes him again. It is almost easy to find rage now, with his smug smile, with the _blood_ around it glaring in her face. " are not family".

She hisses at the painful electrical shock she receives where his hands are grabbing her wrists. Looking into his eyes is like fighting sleep but she manages a glare whenever she glances at the blood around his mouth. "What does a creature like _you_ know about family?" she spits in his face.

He chuckles. He chuckles, but the look in his eyes is so pained Regina forgets for a moment and has to bite her lip to keep herself from asking whether he is okay. " Too much to be happy" he says, which makes her narrow her eyes.

She tries to make her magic work, but it barely flickers - _fear works almost as well as anger usually, why is it not working why is it not working._ Perhaps because she isn't afraid. His hands are burried into her hair, yanking on it to bend her head back, and a droplet of spit glides of his fangs and falls on her neck and he smells so much like blood that her own teeth start to burn ( _not his blood- if he has it. Is that-_ ) but she isn't afraid. She isn't much of anything.

It is good. It is forgetting pain, and warm baths, and touches that make you shiver in a good way. It is good enough that she doesn't protest as his teeth scratch her neck, and again. And again. Doesn't protest - _he is a monster, stop him!, who knows what this will do to you_ \- until she sees it.

She yanks back so quickly and with so much strength that she trips over her own feet and he nearly falls as well. She trips over her own feet again in her haste to get up, hardly feeling the pain as her knees hit the ground, she gets up again and throws herself down next to the body.

Her magic does obey now. It seems as desperate as she is, purple sparks hovering above her hands, as she lowers them to throat and the abundance of blood. She can only focus on the blood- not what is beneath it. Not how that throat is -

She takes exatcly ten minutes to asses the injuries and think about what needs to be healed- how it can be healed.

Regina closes her eyes and pushes at her magic. Pushes and forces it to sink into what is left of skin and grits her teeth ( it is pretty much like kitesurfen during a hurricane). She breathes through her mouth and pushes her hands into the wet earth- _No. You don't want that. You can't hurt him. You can't._

Still, she feels herself bending over, gently brushing away brunette locks from a face whose features are still set in an expression of acute terror. _Wake up baby, wake up._ When she presses her lips to his cheek, she knows it was a mistake. She is too close to all the blood on his neck.

 _Hungry. Thirsty. It burns- but with cold._ She reels back when her fangs shoot down painfully - or she tries because a hand buries into her hair and pushes her towards the crumpled, small body in front of her. She struggles, but she can't fight her own instincts and the extremely strong grip on her head all at the same time.

She can't help licking her lips when she is pushed against that neck, her lips smeared with the blood there - she tries to yank away, or light a fireball or do _anything_ but he just laughs. His voice so close to her ear, his weight at her back- it all makes her sick.

" Just give in - and I will give you even something better"

" Get the hell away from me" she growls, her fingers burning as she gets ready to thow him off- the sudden flash of heat automatically makes her throw herself forward, using her body as a shield. She keeps pressed down, does not even move when she feels her shoulders burn.

She only stands when a familiar touch is on her arm, and quickly pulls her up.

Emma lifts the child in her arms without another word. She puts away her sword before she starts to walk. Regina presses closer to her, summoning a fireball and glancing around the courtyard. She curls her hand around Emma's arm, then allows her magic to take them.

As soon as they materialize in her bedroom, Emma puts the child down on the bed. She takes a step back, then asks "Is he - " she grits her teeth, shakes her head. Regina presses her hands against her stomach in a hopeless effort to calm down- and to keep herself from going over to hug Emma.

She does walk over, and places her hand on Emma's arm though. " I aleady healed him".

" And he is- ".

" I thought they had ripped his throat at first. But I believe the injuries are more superficial than I believed at first- ".

" _Super_ \- Regina, look at all the blood!".

" Yes, well. I do not- " she yanks Emma back from the bedside when the boy suddenly grabs for her arm, his eyes snapping open. She pushes Emma behind her at the ferocious snarl, the sounds, the - well everything. _Stubborn idiot_ she thinks as Emma tries to push past her. Tries being the operative word, because no way that Regina is letting Emma rush towards the boy when he is snarling and spitting like this.

They exchange a startled, worried look and rush forward at the same time when the boy starts to groan instead of hiss, nearly black eyes terrified. He opens his mouth " M-mamma?" then _screams._ Regina pushes him down as he starts to kick, hit and try to crawl at his own skin. She grimaces when his teeth sink into her hand instead of his own.

" Emma- "

" Right here" Emma pants, struggling to hold the kicking/screaming/slapping boy down. " Jesus kid, calm down okay?".

The boy actually listens for a moment. Regina sees her own pain in Emma's heartbroken expression as the boy's lips tremble and he whispers "Dolore" .

Regina gently wipes a strand of hair from a very sweaty forehead. " Il dolore si arresta" she whispers. She smiles as he grabs her hand. He swallows, nods. She stares at his arm- it is not just too thin, but the blue veins are pulsing. And - Emma flinches next to her as the boy starts screaming again.

" Regina. What the hell is going on?"

" He is changing "she breathes.

" Shit".

"Quite" she says, trying to grab his arm again as he flails on the bed. His body arches, his eyes rolling, but before Regina can do anything, he already collapses and his head lols to the side. She presses her fingers to his neck, holding her breath-

she looks at Emma. "He is alive"

" You didn't react like that ".

Regina shrugs. "I am rather used to pain ".

" Regina- ".

" _However,_ we are not knowledgable enough to assume that is the reason. Something else may be going on ".

" You were like that too" Emma said quietly.

" Like what?" she automatically squeezed Emma's bicep, trying to comfort her.

" In this coma-like state. It was goddamn awful".

" I remember"

They stared at the motionless boy for a moment before Emma asked " what do we do now?".

"He can stay here, as long as he needs".

" And what if he changes? ".

Regina sighed. "The hospital, I suppose".

" Ah" Emma is squirming, enough that Regina slowly turns to look at her an arches an eyebrow at her. Emma rolls her eyes slightly, but swallows and softly says " 'm sorry".

" And what , exactly, are you sorry for? " even if a part of her immediately wants to forgive Emma- _you are the one who was foolish enough to kiss her_ \- the rest of her wants her to squirm a little. Wants at least a little elboration, because she had just been thinking she might actually get a happy ending when Emma had run away.

She doesn't even know what Emma is feeling, because the cruel ( yes c _ruel_. Giving hope and then ripping it away by running is nothing short of cruel) woman is not looking at her. " Fine. I am going to check on Henry, miss Swan. I understand if this friendship between us has to come to an en-".

It is impressive how quickly Emma moves forward. Regina sighs as the door slams closed, Emma's magic obviously the culprit. "Emma. There is no need to damage either my door or my walls- ".

"Regina, hear me out okay? I really like this thing we have. Because you're kind of an asshole at times, but I get that is also because of your very high-maintenance mother and well- everything. But what I said , I meant that. No one understands me like you do. You wouldn't think to judge me, or just forgive me because you are a hero or whatever, or even demand that I be the saviour"

Regina couldn't have frozen more if someone had tried to use squid ink on her again. " You are the only one in this whole damn town I practically had to force to let me help with finding their happy ending" .

Emma swallows, nods. " I would never ruin that. Really. Or do you- do you want to stop being friends?".

" No. I enjoy it" . She almost adds all the other things she wants. How she wants to wake up, and see that awful jacket haphazardly thrown over a chair. How she wants to slap Emma's hand away from the pots and pans on the stove. How she wants to laugh at Emma's silly jokes, and listen to her stories. How she wants to bicker and fight and make up. (because for a moment, she had genuinely believed Emma might want those things, too. But she didn't. She had run away, had she not?)

" Great. I - think it is great, you know. I have never really had friends. Apart from Lily, but that was a freaking mess. And really, what are friends worth when they're just your friends because they are predestined or drawn to you or whatever shit it was that kept pulling Lily to me, and me to Lily" Emma shakes herself. " Anyways, I like it too. I really like your cooking, and you help me with all this stuff- like the magic, and you are pretty great when you are not plotting my downfall " she laughs, a little awkwardly.

" Wonderful" Regina says emotionless. _Just like her mother, destroying me. Although I am certain that the storybook was not alluding to this method of destruction._

" Yeah. So, friends? " .

 _She deserves better anyways_ Regina reminds herself as she tries to smile through the pain. " Of course. You are forgiven, miss- Emma".

Emma exhales slowly. " That means a lot, thanks. And uh- I really am sorry. I shouldn't have run like that".

" I am familiar with your special brand of coping, Emma" it is not completely gentle, because Regina cannot have Emma running away. Not when that could hurt Henry again. But it is gentle enough that Emma still smiles at her.

" I know. And I- I am trying not to be that person anymore".

" Okay. We have bigger things to be concerned about" she looks at her wall in purpose, because more of Emma Swan's stupid face and stupid kind expression and she will forever embarrass herself by breaking down crying. _And I do not want Emma to feel guilty. She has started to feel far too responsible for people's happiness._

" I guess- Regina, do we not need to talk more about this. I mean, you- " _She cannot even bring herself to say it, she is so revolted by it._ Regina's eyesight is slightly blurry, but she manages to swallow even if it feels like it is not saliva but tiny daggers and glance at Emma. Who looks ready to bolt again.

" No, miss Swan. _We_ need to do what is best for our son. And what is b-best- " she actually needs several seconds to calm herself, _don't cry don't embarrass yourself_ , and she looks at the wall because if she looks at Emma Swan everything hurts too much. " for Henry, is if his mothers are both here. And they are cooperating. So that is what we will do. You will apologize to Henry. You will explain it to him. And you will _never_ do that again".

She stares at the wall as Emma comes closer. She has to clench her hands into fists to keep herself from actually, physically pushing the woman away. Now that she can no longer fool herself into believing that somewhere, deep down but _somewhere_ , Emma feels like this as well- the very thought of Emma being near her is too hurtful right now.

" Go, mi- Emma".

She hovers, and for a moment Regina desperately wants Emma to reach out. To ask whether that is tears brimming in Regina's eyes. To notice that she is nearly crumbling. Emma reaches for her, but she closes her mouth again before saying something. She squeezes, once, then slowly lets go and gives Regina a timid smile before the door slams,

and Regina crumbles against it.


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own OUAT.**

Henry is sleeping, his head on her shoulder and his soft snores making her chuckle, when Emma returns. She seems pale, obviously exhausted, but her entire face lights up when she sees Henry. She glances at the boy on the bad before she creeps toward Regina and Henry, and squats next to them.

" Hi. I got you coffee" she hands Regina one of the three mugs she has with her. _Gods, that used to smell better, did it not?_ Regina accepts it, and Emma deflates slightly when she merely gets a nod and not the usual fond smile she gets whenever she brings Regina anything.

She slowly sits down, cross-legged, and studies Henry. " How did he react?".

" Not.. well" she hesitates, studying Emma. She knows it is ridiculous, but she feels less comfortable speaking to her now, after weeks of Emma running. Emma only ran because Regina was foolish enough to think it could be anything reciprocated, as if she could choose her own fate and have it be happy. So it is odd to hold back now, because her friendship never made Emma run ( _or is that just because it would hurt Henry if she did run_ ) . But then again, when you are friends with someone like her, you are bound to leave-

It is familiar, both the touch and how cold Emma's hand is because she nearly always has cold hands and she has her own spot on Regina's arm. " Regina?" and she exhales a little easier after that, because Emma sounds like she understands. She knows she won't explain herself, she rarely needs to around Emma.

" He was concerned. And furious- ".

" Yeah, I got that" Emma mutters, and sighs when Regina arches her eyebrow. " He uh - when I showed up, he kind of yelled at me how you were missing. I bailed in the middle of that speech- ".

She wasn't angry at Emma, or at least not as angry as she had been at herself, but _now -_ " Emma Swan , I swear to the Unnamed Gods that I will make you regret it dearly if you have hurt our son's feelings" .

"I thought you were in danger, so I poofed without thinking".

She wrinkles her nose, but the urge to throw the coffee on Emma lessens. " You will have to apologize to Henry".

" Yeah. I know" she smiles as she looks at him. Regina sighs, but can't hold back a chuckle when she recognizes the gleam in Emma's eyes. " You will regret that, too, miss Swan. As soon as our son realizes, he will find some way to repay you. Have you already forgotten what happened after your April prank?".

Emma shudders, but shrugs and just grins. " He will forgive me. I just need the proper gifts to bribe him with" the wink does _not_ make Regina light-headed. " Besides, this is just gold".

Regina stares at the offered phone, with the same kind of expression she might have if someone would offer her a spider. " I am not participating in your scheme".

" Aw come on!" Emma grins, and gods Regina _loathes_ her for knowing Regina well enough that she can manipulate her. "You love taking pictures of Henry. You have all this books filled with them".

" Exactly. We already have enough pictures" she sips her coffee. It doesn't make it any easier to look at Emma without thinking about dragging her teeth over her pulse, but at least it tastes nice. And that way she can think of how the coffee is steaming hot, but it feels lukewarm to her- instead of glancing at her son, and realizing how much she wants to preserve this moment. _You never know when someone might take - no, do not think that._

" But Regina, when will a moment like this happen again?".

 _I am not giving in, I am not giving in._ She sips her coffee, throws Emma her best you-bore-me look. " There is a non-technological way to preserve memories Emma. It is called actually remembering them".

Emma rolls her eyes. " You use your phone more than I do".

" That may be true, but I use it for important things like business meetings , while _you_ use it to send everyone odd smiley-faces and play games".

" You're low-key obsessed with snap chat, _and_ you were pretty happy about pokemon go. You even have the guide".

" I needed to help Henry to catch them all! ".

" Yeah, _right._ I saw your face when you caught reshiram, I was _there_ "

" I needed that pokemon to destroy your mother".

" Uh-huh. You actually formed a team with her".

" You became as obsessed with birds as Snow".

"Angry birds doesn't count, everyone liked that for a while. And I am pretty sure it is only Disney's Snow White that likes birds that much".

" She taught a class about birds for _twenty-eight_ years-".

" Yeah and hey! You distracted me".

" I did not even do that on purpose. You are just very easy to distract".

" Take the picture Regina".

" I do not take orders from you, I _give_ -".

" Regina, he is going to wake up any moment".

 _I am still not giving in._ She takes the phone, and quickly snaps a picture. " There ".

Emma grins. " Smile" she takes another one before Regina has even had the time to smile. But when she is shown the picture, she is smiling anyways because she was looking at Henry. Emma has an odd talent for taking pictures at the the exact right moment.

" It is passable".

" Great. Hold my phone for a moment" Regina follows Emma with her eyes when she jumps to her feet, and walks around the chair until she is pressed against. _Oh no._ Her grip on the phone tightens subtly when she suddenly smells Emma, and her hair brushes against Regina's cheek and she is so incredibly close and -

She is only barely aware of the pain shooting through her hand for a second, and it is really Emma's sharp cry( or actually the incredibly upsetting fact that she is no longer that close to Regina) that makes her brain focus on something else than _Closer closer Emma_. She blinks slowly, then inhales sharply when Emma's gently applies pressure to her hand, so that she is no longer clenching it into a fist.

She watches the pieces of the phone fall to the ground, watches her own hand when Emma gasps. They watch the scars fade together. She can feel the little hairs in her neck stand up when Emma presses her fingers to where the scars used to be. " The injuries closed in a second, and now there isn't even a scar- ".

She is muttering about something. The noise is drowned out by Regina's thoughts which are really nothing more than the way her throat burns, and how licking her lips won't solve the dryness of them because all her saliva has relocated to the places where her gum is aching-

Emma only gets to widen her eyes, before Regina has pressed her against the wall, using her body to keep Emma there. She slides her finger down Emma's neck , then follows that path with her mouth. She knows what the hands that are now on her shoulders are going to do, so she gently pulls Emma forward, just enough for Regina to curl a leg around her.

Emma still gently tries to push her away, but she can't when Regina is more or less curled around her. She just presses her nose into Emma's neck, dragging out the moment. She does not really care about the aching cold in her teeth right now, the same one you get when you take a bite of icecream. Not when she knows she is going to have the thing she wants so much-

"Regina"

It is very soft, hardly there but maybe that is _why_ she hesitates. She slowly glances up, taking note of glazed eyes with expanded pupils, and flushed cheeks. She slowly pulls back, her heel hitting the floor with a soft thunk!.

She is trembling with the effort it takes not to walk back to where Emma is standing, pushing herself away from the wall. She almost catches her when she stumbles but doesn't dare to come too close.

"Okay. So _that_ happened" Emma shakes herself.

Regina loses her train of thought as she watch Emma bend over, and pick up the pieces of phone to stare at it. Her face brightens when it repairs itself at a wave of Regina's hand. " Thanks".

" Yes. Well. I did destroy it in the first place" she studies Emma. _Is she going to run again? Did I really ruin it this time?_ She still wants to step closer to Emma- she honestly cannot tell whether it is the bloodlust, or something else entirely- but she forces herself to not move at all.

And then Emma turns around, and walks towards her. _Don't._ She stops next to Regina and watches Henry, chuckles. "Good thing our son is a heavy sleeper, huh?" she nudges Regina, and she doesn't understand how Emma can be so casual.

" I just-".

" I know. But you can't help it - you uh haven't had any blood since you bit me right?"

She feels her lips twitch despite everything when she catches Emma mumble 'I can't believe I just had to ask that'.

" Actually, I have had some of miss Lucas' blood".

The stupid, annoying part of her brain that is far too optimistic zones in on how Emma's head shoots up, and her eyes narrow. "You bit Ruby?".

" Yes. It was an.. accident" she grimaces. She really had not intented to bite miss Lucas.

" An accident?".

" She came too close- ".

" So you bite _anyone._ I thought- well, let's just take this selfie".

" Are you upset about this?".

" Just let it go Regina".

 _You already made the mistake of believing these feelings were reciprocated. Do not make it again._ " It differs".

Emma slowly turns around, crosses her arms. " What?".

" The - urge to drink from people. It differs".

She relaxes, marginally. " So you want it more around certain people?".

" Yes".

" Ah. Like me?".

" Yes".

Emma cocks her head slightly, seems to be glaring. " And Ruby"

" It - it appears so".

" Why do you think it is like that?".

 _I have a suspicion._ " I just have a hypothesis".

" Care to share?".

" After I have tested it".

" Okay" Emma is still slightly tense, but when she smiles it is genuine. She holds up her phone. "Care to make that selfie now?".

 _It is a terrible idea to be in her proximity._ But then again, she is weak. She is a weak, weak human being who can't resist anything that has do with their family. Especially not when that family includes her son, and his annoyingly charming birthmother. Emma grins again, and despite her body obviously telling her she shouldn't get too close , she follows her to the armchair where Henry is still asleep.

This time, she manages to control herself when Emma presses forward. She is next to Henry, whose head is on her shoulder. Emma is leaning her chin on Henry's shoulder and holding up the phone so they all fit in the frame. Emma doesn't even have to tell her to smile, because she automatically does with Henry sleeping next to her and Emma smiling like that so close to her-

" You should take another one" it isn't really necessary, but she wants Emma's to stay like this for another five seconds. Emma nods, always happy to take pictures of their family ( she has enough by now to blackmail both the Millses) , especially when they are pictures from moments like these.

And Regina can hardly begrudge her it, even when she is taking pictures of less flattering moments because Emma is radiant like this, with that small smile and child-like enthusiasm. She whispers instructions to Regina, who rolls her eyes and pretends like she isn't completely content watching Emma try to figure out what kind of expressions she wants, and whether the curtains needs to be closed a little and other things Regina doesn't really care about.

When Emma is finally satisfied, she remains leaning against the armchair. Regina has those concentration problems again, the ones that mean that only approximately half of what Emma says registers, and she has to use breathing exercises to avoid losing control with Emma inches away from her but she is also happy.

Emma is showing her pictures from their family, and gesturing as she tells Regina about as though she isn't in at least half of them, and she just stares and smiles at Emma.

" Ah, I love this one".

Regina scrunches up her nose. " I told you to delete that one" she says, staring at the picture. It is one made by David . Regina is in her robe, her mouth open in indignation. Next to her , sitting on his knees, is Henry who has a rather devilish expression and a (empty) bottle of holy water. Behind him, Emma is falling over as she laughs.

" Aw come on , you look fine".

" I am wet".

Emma snickers.

" Oh shush. And you _children_ could have accidentally burned me".

" We already knew holy water couldn't hurt you".

" In small quantities. It could have been possible that it hurt me in larger quantities".

" Regina, like a month ago I filled a water gun with the stuff and the vampire still didn't get burned. Believe me, it won't hurt you".

" Wait, _what_?".

" Okay, I know I probably shouldn't have wasted your supply of that stuff like that, but- ".

" You went after them _on your own_ ".

" I only went after the one that keeps flirting with you!".

" She is extremely dangerous!".

"I am fine".

" You- " she glares at Emma. " You are very fortunate to have not been hurt, miss Swan".

" I wasn't though. If anything would've gotten hurt, it would have been my ego. She just laughed in my face, broke the watergun in half and leaned in to whisper that there are better ways to get her wet" Emma is rolling her eyes, and talking but Regina isn't listening to her. She is standing. She is going to find that woman. And _talk_ to her.

" conceited. Anyways- uh Regina?" Emma interupts herself.

" I have to- "

"Bad idea. She will just, like seduce you again".

"She did not _seduce_ me".

" What would you call it then? You seemed pretty _seduced_ to me".

She is stepping into Emma's person space before she thinks about how - well, foolish that is. " You have never seen me s _educed_ ".

Emma scowls. " Oh really? Because you looked pretty seduced, with how you were staring and smiling at her and allowing her to touch you like that".

" She was using mindcontrol, miss Swan".

" So that was just mindcontrol, then? The way you stared at her, and the sounds you made".

" Answer a question I have, dear"

Emma rolls her eyes. " What do you want to know now?".

Regina steps into Emma's personal space, smiling as she hears her heart skip a beat . " How do _you_ explain the sounds you made when I drank your blood?".

Emma is blushing, but she crosses her arms and tilts her head. Regina would almost believe the question doesn't impact her. " Your saliva".

" I already told you-"

"I have done a little research, and with Belle's help - ".

 _That little side-stepping-_ She blinks confusedly, only half listening to what Emma is saying. For a moment, she had seriously considered sn- _hurting_ Belle. She likes the woman. She is smart, inventive and can even be snarky at times. So why are her muscles tense and is she honestly considering going over to the shop and -

 _What the hell is going on?_

She suddenly realizes Emma's voice had been muted, and she had forgotten all about where she was when Emma's touches her arm gently, and she is aware of the woman's concerned expression, and catches the last syllables of her own name.

" My apologies. Continue".

" Regina what the Hell was that?".

" I am certain I have no- " _there is only so many ways you can be a monster before people treat you as such._ The memories of when they had all thought she had killed Archie flit through her mind, and steels her resolve to lie.

" Regina. Come on" Emma smiles. " You can't lie to me '.

" I - " _Do not be weak. You'll burden her, and surely chase her away._ She curses herself when Emma steps closer, and the expression is enough to loosen Regina's resolve. " I experienced something odd".

" That much was obvious. What was it?".

" When you spoke off Belle- that " she hesitates, then admits " it angered me".

" Oh" there is something almost knowing in Emma's eyes, and she hopes vehemently that she isn't aware, that she doesn't know about this _hopeless_ , foolish thing Regina is feeling. Emma is intuitive, but she also can be very blind to some things and she really wants Emma not to guess that Regina is barely managing whatever she feels for the headstrong, infuriating, confusing woman.

(Regina knows what it is. She even has accepted it, decided it is only more karma. She just does not want to tempt the gods even more, not when she already feels like the friendship they have is far more than she deserves)

" I suspect it has something to do with the virus in my blood".

" The virus? Did Henry find anything? ".

" No, but that is how we are thinking off it right now".

She deflates. " So the book is still not giving answers?".

" There is an abundance of bloodsucking creatures, apparently. And they do not use the term 'vampire'.

" I am not even surprised. It took me forever to read a few pages, the thing is seriously difficult to read".

Regina arches her eyebrow. " Yes, I- ".

" Leave the sarcasm, Regina".

She rolls her eyes. " Fine". Emma is right anyways. The vocubulary used is ancient, the letters are extremely tiny and they are terribly vague.

" So are you okay now?".

" I am fine. What were you saying about Belle?".

Emma smiles. " We did some research of our own, and we think that we have discovered some things. She also said she would do some research on her own- " Regina easily interprets Emma's expression as being slightly insulted ( she files it away, because teasing the woman is _entertaining_ ) " so we're invited there in a couple of days. That's how long she thought it would take to interpret the text".

"Text? ".

" She found something. I think she asked someone - I am pretty sure she has connections all over the world with people interested in all these manuscripts and sh- _stuff_. She just needed some time to read it".

" And she invited you also?".

" No need to sound surprised, I am useful".

" Well, you do know how I like my coffee" she remarks.

" I am not your errand's girl" she protests, even though Emma often brings her lunches and has pretty much gone out of her way these past weeks trying to make Regina eat. " I am going to guard".

" How terribly reassuring. I am certain that any undead creatures will tremble at the sight of you".

" And you know, I do want to know immediately what she has found. The sooner this thing is over, the better".

Her stomach sinks. _Burden._ " Right".

" I mean, it is nerve-wrecking, to wake up and see that you've disappeared " she smiles, and Regina automatically takes a small step closer when she sees what Emma is trying to hide. " Pretty sure that has been worse for my heart than the pastries you've warned me against ".

" I doubt it".

" You eat fat things yourself!".

" Yes, but I do not presume they are part of a healthy diet, mi querido" she likes the safety of Spanish, for Emma only knows practical things and some very crass ones.

Emma narrows her eyes. " Are you calling me an idiot?"

Emma _always_ asks that. " No. Perhaps you should allow Henry to teach you".

" He won't" she rolls her eyes. " I am pretty sure he likes being able to say stuff I don't understand".

" I am sure he will find other things to speak about that you will not comprehend" she makes sure to keep her tone light, and Emma just throws her a slightly exasperated look.

" Yeah, whatever. You want to wake sleeping beauty and get some lunch? I am starving".

She sighs. " It is a true miracle that you have the body you have".

" You know I work out a lot".

 _Not that image again.._ " Still".

Emma throws that look - she thinks of it as fond exasperation- over her shoulder. " You are lucky we share a kid, or I wouldn't be this nice to you".

" Excuse me for attempting to make sure you do not die of a heart attack in your fourties".

Emma just laughs.

Regina isn't even annoyed, just _fond._

Goddamn it. Goddamn it all.

* * *

She thought she had gotten rid of that special type of anger, the one that rushes through her veins quickly, that has her grit her teeth, breathe through her nose, bury her nails into her own hands. She thought she had gotten rid of the queen, and she would never hate anyone like that ever again.

She is stalking forward, and she wants to dig her fingers into his arm, she wants _him_ to look uncomfortable and trapped, she wants to use words so incredibly sharp and acid that she could run her Mercedes over his face and it would hurt less.

It is only _Emma_ \- Emma who will hurt, Emma who will have to compromise, Emma who doesn't want her to, Emma who is exhausted and tense and only has been herself in moments like watching vampire movies for 'research' and Henry's stories- it is only Emma who has her lips twist into something that could only be a smile in nightmares.

" Move"

" Your majesty- " She always thinks Hook is an idiot, but he is not actually stupid. He knows exactly which words she hates, what is the last thing she wants to hear.

She rolls her eyes at him, then pointedly looks at Emma. Smiling at her would normally be easy, but she can hardly manage with how Emma doesn't look like herself, not with that smile and the clothing and the - " Emma, we still need to have that family dinner".

 _Why are you with him? He destroys you_. Hook probably does not notice the flash of relief, and hope in Emma's eyes. Or maybe he does, and just does not care. Maybe he deludes himself into believing that he deserves Emma, that he is something good for her. Regina doesn't care. Even if he is completely unaware of what he is doing to Emma Swan- she still wants to

She inhales sharply, and the anger falters for a second. _Thoughts like these should stop. I endangered my family to get rid of my darkness- it has to mean something-_

" Regina? "

" I am fine. Henry is waiting for us".

" Listen, why don't I come with you" Hook suggests, and it is only Emma's subtly tightening around her bicep that keeps Regina from taking a step towards him, and she doesn't even know what she will do but anything to keep him away from _their_ family. When she glances at Emma, she immediately forces herself to smile though ( she can't take this , too, from Emma. She can't- not when there is a chance Emma might be happy) " I do not believe that is a good idea".

" Oh really, your _majest_ \- ".

" Killian- " there is something hard in Emma's eyes for a moment, and Regina stares at her and loathes herself more than usually for hoping that Emma will finally end _that_ mistake but Emma deflates and just says " please don't. I will see you later, okay?".

" You are always with them" he says.

" _They_ are family".

"I am your boyfriend! Shouldn't the lass spend some time with me?".

Emma shrugs. " If he says that is what he wants".

" _If_ \- ".

" Hook, please don't do this again".

" Don't you want us to be a family?".

The last Regina was nauseous like this, she was in her marriage bed.

" Yeah- sure, but Henry is Regina's son, and mine. That's never going to change".

" I don't get why I can't come either".

"We will discuss what is happening to m _e_ , pirate, and I would sooner believe the earth is flat than that you have an interest in that".

" Really, what _is_ happening here? " he says, stepping forward with a gleam of sudden interest. Regina doesn't glance away from him, but she can see Emma stiffen in her eyecorners. _What did you tell him?_

" It is none of your business'.

" It is when it means I have hardly seen my _girlfriend_ these past weeks"

And at that moment, Regina realizes he knows. Somehow, he knows. There is absolutely no other way to interpret the smirk, the glee in his eyes, his emphasis on the word 'girlfriend'.

Emma doesn't, of course. She isn't even realizing the conversation is taking place on two levels- Regina thinks it has something to do with how exhausted Emma obviously is. Regina glances at her when she sighs, and grits her teeth against the pain when Emma smiles and allows Hook to kiss her.

( is it just her stupid, _useless_ imagination or did Emma look tense, and pull back really soon?)

" I know, and I am sorry. We can schedule something soon okay? Just the two of us- ".

" What about the lad ? " Hook asks, and Regina is reacting without thought. She really didn't mean to. She _really_ didn't.

But he is just trying to take Henry from her, too, and he is so smug and she is so very angry (how can she still be like this, ending the queen was supposed to end _everything_ ) and he actually is fortunate enough to know what Emma's smile feels against your lips, and what it is like to wake up curled around her and-

" REGINA"

she hardly reacts at the tight grip around her arm , smiling at Hook. His eyes widen, and then he screams when she nearly breaks his hand as he tries to reach for her ( possibly use that hook to rip her apart). She chuckles, and the very tiny part of her brain that still works, scolds her for being so much like the evil queen right now.

The stubborn idiot holds in his scream, and glares defiantly at her. She leans forward even more, and his eyes are watering, his face very tense but he still not screaming ( groaning though. and she _relishes_ it as much as she hates herself for enjoying anyone's pain still).

" _Regina_ " .

It is only when Emma's voice registers, that she stills. She frowns, swallowing the last mouthful. Then she looks down at Hook, slumped over, the blood on his skin , the way his chest hardly moves and she staggers back when it all hits her with the force of several elephants.

 _Oh gods-Emma_ \- she expects Emma to be looking at her with disgust and anger, and possibly stay far away from her. So the reality is stunning: Emma is still standing to close to her, her hand curled loosely around Regina's elbow and when she repeats Regina's name, the tone is obviously worried and then relief

 _Why isnt she running to her boyfri- do not entertain those thoughts. She ran. She ran when you were foolish enough-_

( Still why is Emma still so close, and so worried. Why isn't she with her boyfriend, and _why_ does she look at Regina as though she understand and reciprocate even these feelings Regina keeps having)

" I - I am sorry" she says

" You scared the shit out of me. You weren't reacting to anything I said".

" I did not intend to harm him, I -".

" I get that. You're not like that anymore, and it just whatever is in your blood that - " her eyes widen, and Regina doesn't understand why is suddenly looking like that. Did she finally realize what kind of terrible thing Regina just did?

"Does that mean you're - like Lucy, in the book, Lucy turned into- ".

" You are asking me whether I am becoming a monster" it is quiet, the mumbled 'again', but Emma has obviously heard. Her expression tightens, and she steps towards Regina. "You're not like that. Not anymore- you've come really far".

" I am still hurting people. I do not wan- I am still hurting people" and gods, how much that wants to stop this, to just end it the way it should've ages ago, when she first started hurting people - she wants that happy ending, she does, but even now she doesn't feel like she deserves it. Not when there's an evil queen running free, and Henry worried sick, and her family on guard duty for her.

" Hey. We will find some way, right? I mean, I am not promising you that it will be easy or that it will even be exactly what we want, but we are gonna figure this out".

She slowly lets go of Regina's arm. " We should help Hook. Are you all right? ".

Regina just nods, because _surely that will slip past her lie detector?_ Emma still squints her eyes, but slowly nods, and lets it go as they walk towards Hook together. Regina exhales, and is confused by how a part of her can still want to squeeze the life out of him-

Then she glances at Emma, and the desire deflates like her lungs, which feel like all the air has knocked out of them; Emma is kneeling next to Hook, and she is gentle, and she is radiant and- Regina isn't foolish enough to think Emma is some ethereal, good being- she definitely knows Emma has her faults but that doesn't mean she can stop thinking _you're too good you're too good you're too good. We don't deserve you._

" Shit Regina, his wrist- ".

She only moves forward at the curse, barely hesitating when she kneels down on Hook's other side. She doesn't want to hurt people anymore, not really, but she doesn't want to give this man anything else either. Still, it is the right thing. It's easier than it used to be, to take Hook's hand and press her fingers, heal the bone she had just broken. She knows she would have had to force herself to heal him, and a large part of her would not have wanted it.

It still hurts, helping the man that is so undeserving of Emma's love, but she doesn't hesitate like she usually would, and it is over seconds later. It's over and she is exhausted. She destroyed a part of herself and constantly has to fight against the aches and there is mindcontrol-

(Emma Swan is infuriating, with her shy smile and things like 'I believe in you'. With how she's on Regina's mind constantly, and she sometimes can't even look at something red because of Emma's _infuriating_ jacket)

She feels more than exhausted when Emma is gone.

She goes home.

* * *

That night, Regina loses her mind.

She grabs some of her recipe books, and makes a buffet worthy of an empress, enough to feed the entire Roman linage. She works from memory, making both her favorite food and Henry's, and tries out any recipe she hasn't yet. There's plates on her table, the counter, a couch and the low table she summoned.

She makes several bottles of her apple cider, with 'O Fortuna' as her background noise. She summons the spices from her cupboard , and just to be spiteful, adds garlic to about half of the dishes she has made. She uses pretty much all the ingredients that are still in the house.

She finally turns everything off, and collapses at the table. Wiping her hair out of her face, she grabs the closest dish (lasagna) and takes three large bites. She quickly moves it to the side, and reaches for the mashed potatoes ( she pushes that away the moment she smells it). Rissoto, cassarole and paella also do nothing to stop her from feeling ravenous.

It is only when she gets to the steak that she feels _slightly_ less inclined to go outside and grab the first thing with a pulse.

(and it is late, and no one is around her, so she is not completely embarrassed that she loses self-constraint and ends up digging into the thing with her bare hands)

It is the howl that finally tears her attention away from the steaks, and she leaves the third, half-eaten one laying on a plate as she wipes her hands and walks towards the door. Halfway there, she picks up a stake and then yanks the door open.

" Miss Lucas, this is highly inappropriat- " she stalls, looking down at the wolf on her porch. Somehow, she instantly knows it is a werewolf. It is not Ruby however, no it is someone she has never seen before. This one is beige, with beautiful grey eyes.

It also jumps at her the moment she opens the door.

She is jumping away before it has even registered that the wolf is coming inside, then immediately throws a fireball before it that has it jump back. " Do not even _think_ about it " she says, and she doesn't want to hurt this person but she also has a son sleeping upstairs and she would burn an entire flock of werewolves before letting anyone get close enough to hurt him.

The wolf bends its head, and then slowly approaches her. She keeps a fireball in her hand, but does nothing to keep it from coming closer, closer, until it is close enough that she can feel its fur against her legs that are bare beneath her robe. She finally extinguishes the fireball when she spots something on its side.

She feels her fangs slide out when she realizes what it is, and is shocked (appaled. Relieved? _no you can't be that_ ) when she realizes she feels exactly like she used to in her evil queen days. Except instead of being furious at villages that protected Snow White, she is overcome by fury at the unjustice, cruelty of the mark.

It is obviously a burn mark, in the shape of a heart with an arrow through it. She hovers above it, and when the wolf just presses closer, she gently touches it. It makes her feel sick, that mark. It is so obvious about possesion, and control that she cannot help but think of her marriage. And _that_ never ends well.

She is valiantly trying to fade the mark when the -by now familiar - voice makes her jump to her feet, summon a fireball and throw it at his head all in one fluent, practised motion. He chuckles, and steps to the side and Regina _blinks-_

" Good to see you once again, my girl" he whispers, inches away from her face. She glares at him, and summons another fireball. She gaps when he grasps her hand, and there is an awful pressure in her head, and the fireball is squished by his hand around hers.

" I am not yours " she finally spits, when he lets go of her hand in an attempt to carress her face, and she pushes him back. The only reaction she gets is a slight twist of his lips, and it isn't difficult to scowl at him ( not when every thought is Henry Henry Henry _upstairs_ )

" Maybe not yet" he steps close again, and she clenches the silver stake still in her hand, behind her back now. He raises his hand again, curling a strand off her hair around his finger when he leans in. She pretends the shiver is desire, and leans in. The idiot smirks with the kind of satisfaction an arrogant narcist would get from someone like her reacting to his touch with buckling knees and turns his head-

his lips ice on her skin-

she would halt at the furious snarl, but the thought of Henry being upstairs makes her strong. He grabs her arms, and she slams her foot down on his. She pushes, and he immediately moves in again, to catch the stake and her back hits the floor rather painfully.

She rushes at him again, and his eyes smolther like fire - literally, they're slowly turning the exact same color as slowly dying embers. Her eyes widen, and she recognizes the sound as that of a stake falling on the floor. She can feel her muscles ache, and tries even harder to push through it but now her mind is sloggish too.

 _Why should I fight?_ She stares at their intertwined hands with a furrowed brow, and doesn't resist when she is pulled forward. The intense cold at the back of her neck- the uncomfortable feeling of fingers pressing into the nape, it is all uncomfortable but the soft _do not allow him-_ is drowned out, and she is left staring numbly as he keeps coming closer, and closer-

Her heart is throbbing painfully, she is shivering uncontrollably, her muscles are locking up-

She stumbles back and very nearly falls- it is pretty much like waking because you've fallen and it only takes her sleepy brain three seconds to connect the dots.

Furious scream, a voice breaking in the middle of it. _Henry's_ voice. The silver-tipped arrow in the wall. The bow Snow gave them. The stumbling, heavy footsteps. Her little prince running down the stairs.

Only three arrows left.

" HENRY" She screams, at the exact same moment that the count throws himself at Henry. It hurts prettu badly when her head slams into the floor, but she doesn't care. He hisses, and this time there is no sluggishness to her mind, no desire to give in, no smile that frightens her- there is only unadultered hatred.

She digs her fingers in, using every single ounce of weight and strength and _hatred_ she has to keep him down. " H-henry" she knows he is stronger than her. " Run" she commands. She is still staring at the man oddly calm beneath her, trying to ignore how it feels like there are icecold fingers pressing down on her brain.

"No" she chances a glance at Henry- unkempt hair, stake in his hand, phone in the other and more fury than she thought would fit in her little boy - then glares at the man that is chuckling. "Courageous lad. You can keep him- if you want to".

She presses even harder when he only arches his eyebrow in reaction to her nails digging into his wrists. " I do not care what you are speaking about, you lunatic but you will not- "

" Your son" it is a struggle, not showing how her heart stopped for a second. _How does he know?_ " He has admirable qualities- I am certain he will be a valuable pet" the last words are hardly hearable, which likely has something to do with the fact that Regina is crushing his windpipe.

Her entire skin is heating up, and she pushes only harder when she feels that intense cold again, prickling at her neck. It is only a hand wrapping around her wrist, and gently pulling her back that makes her grip slacken.

" Mom. You cannot - "

She shudders, and stumbles back. She watches the count fall gracefully, his knees bending and slowly straightening. As soon as he smiles, she steps in front of Henry and summons one of the stakes that are everywhere.

" You will not harm my son".

" I will not. I merely desire to have a moment of your time, Regina".

She scoffs. " And I am supposed to believe that is all you want?".

There is something so predatory in his gaze that she almost takes a step back. Instead, she forces herself to glare. " For now, it is indeed. I solemny promise you and your boy will not be harmed"

Her grip around the stake tightens when he smiles in Henry's direction. " You even have my permission to leave, boy".

She does not need to glance behind her to know Henry is crossing his arms, and glaring at the vampire. " I am not leaving my mom".

She blindly reaches for his hand, and squeezes it when he offers it to her. " You will be safer that way".

" Mom, _no_ ".

" Henry, this is too dangerous".

"It is more dangerous for you. They control you".

Regina feels those shivers again when the count laughs. " Allow me" he mutters and she is about to snap " I will not allow you _anything_ " when his voice lowers and eyes burn gently. "Step towards me, boy".

Regina grabs Henry's hand before he has even finished taking that step, and tugs him towards her. She hears his gasp when her fingers meet his skin ( does he have a fever? His skin is so warm) and he turns towards her. " M-mom?".

" Boy"

She blindly launches a fireball at him when Henry's face clouds over again. She feels his fingers twitch as the count calmly side-steps the fireball. She makes a sweeping motion , and smirks when the count's eyes widen as the ground beneath him starts to shake. It gives her the few seconds she needs to pull Henry behind her again.

" _Enough_ ".

"Mom- I can resist it".

" Mi principito, you just showed- ".

" It already weakened after two seconds. I can resist it".

" He may be right. You have raised a boy with a strong will Regina" the count remarks, and she almost growls at him when he moves towards them. Towards _Henry._ She can feel her gums begin to burn, before her teeth slip out. She doesn't even think about curling her lip, but the count merely smiles when he spots her fangs.

She would slap his hand away, but she will not give him the satisfaction. She merely glares at him for cupping her face, and leaning in. Her eyes widen; when he speaks it sounds like he is infusing his words with magic. " Your boy may resist my influence for a moment, but would you endanger him that way? ".

There is a certain satisfaction in punching him away, even if he hardly stumbles. She curses how breathless her voice is when she commands Henry to leave.

" Mom, no way".

" Young man, I swear on all in this vague Hell that I still hold some affection for, your mother will not be intentiously harmed by me".

" Did the book forget to mention vampires are unable to lie, because unless there is veritaserum in your veins, there is no way I am leaving my mom".

" You have chosen a courageous adolescent, Regina".

" Henry, please leave".

" Mom, what if he wants to hurt you?".

" I do not- he will be able to if you stay".

" No, he won't. We are stronger together ".

The count sighs, and interrupts the hissed discussion between Henry and his mother. " This issue is honestly not complicated" Regina tries to fight the grip on her arm, but the count merely seems irritated after she has slapped him. _No no, stop it. Hen-_ She falls against him when the cold intensifies to the point that every breath hurts, and she might as well have gotten six brainfreezes after each other.

" Lad. If you remain in this dwelling, I will do something unspeakable to your mother. If you extract your presence from this home, I will merely speak to her. _Choose_ ".

She struggles even more against the cold, against the paralyzation when she sees the pain in Henry's glare and - _please do not ever despise anyone. That never ends well._ She manages to move her lips when he comes over to her, and presses a kiss to her crown. "Te quiero. Ugly duckling"

she blinks in confusion at first, until he mouths 'Emma' and she shakes her head. She has no doubt that the count would seriously attempt to hurt Emma ( Somehow, she has a feeling that her dream was more a message than merely her overtired brain reacting to the situation).

" Te quiero" she somehow manages to force her frozen lips to form the words. He slowly walks towards the door, and she is left with doubts and apprehension and - _please Henry, I would never forgive myself if Emma got hurt attempting to save me._

She is not allowed to dwell more on it, or to really free herself so she can roast the count and keep Emma from getting herself hurt that way; as soon as Henry closes the door behind him, she is pushed into a chair she did not even notice the count getting, and bound to it.

" You know, Regina, you and I are much alike".

" Why, did you also lose your lover?" She spits. She doubts he had a parent like Cora, or the Dark one carefully weaving his trap that would ensure two decades of misery.

His grin dies rapidly, and she actually _does_ feel a stab of sympathy at the pain in his eyes. " No. Something far more valuable- a child".

She stops fighting against the bounds, just stares at him. He reaches for something in his breast pocket, and what little light there is catches on the silver locket. He snaps it open, traces whatever picture is inside. " înger **a** ș" She is more spellbound than she would be if he was still using his hypnotism when he brings the locket to his lips, and gently presses it to them.

The moment he does it, she stops glaring.

" What happened?" she can't help the question. She is vaguely aware that she should fight, but she is only focused on the idea that this man went through that kind of hurts her to even think of that year with Henry, and the year itself was a nightmare. It is even hard to despise him at the moment.

There's familiar hatred in his eyes when he speaks again. " I failed. I should've protected her- but I was gone, and _they_ got to her".

" they?".

" Strigoi" he hisses.

" Vampires? But you- ".

The hair on her neck stands up when he laughs. " Just like humans, what you have named a 'vampire' , these creatures are vastly different. They can be monsters".

" _You_ \- ".

" They would have bound your boy to a tree, and forced you to turn him or his life be taken in front of you".

For some reason, she does not believe he is lying. Still - " You still threaten Henry".

" No. There are many things I am capable off, that the man I once was would find abhorrent but I have always kept to the one moral rule" . He gazes at the picture again. " Do not harm children".

His head snaps up, and this time , his gaze does not paralyze. It burns, and she gasps when it becomes painful in a different manner. There are suddenly tears streaming down her face, and she sobs once. " W-what are you doing?".

He wipes away the tears on her cheeks, then leans in to kiss her cheekbone. He slowly pulls back, but her cheek feels frozen, and it hurts to breathe. She stares at him. " Do you not see, Regina? Our hearts are alike".

" You wish to harm my family" she moves her face, so that he is no longer touching it. His hand remains in the air, and he sighs.

" Perhaps".

Before she can do more than glare at him, give him that look that obviously means " all evidence shows the opposite" , he is already speaking again. Breathing becomes easier when he is no longer that close, but instead pacing several steps in front of her. " You are special, Regina".

" Surely there are witches in your realm".

Henry's face flits behind her eyes when he growl, and whirls around with a snarl and blazing eyes. " Not anymore".

Her throat closes. " you killed them off".

" I let Hell take them, as it should've ".

"What - ".

" They're gone. And your magic is the last of what makes you special".

"I still do not comprehend why you would choose me of all people".

He smiles again, and there is something wrong with it, something- _obsession. That is what this is for him. An obsession._ She realizes when he leans in, and his mouth brushes against her cheek. She struggles, and very nearly panics when she can't reach her magic. She feels breathless in the worst possible way, like she is trapped in a very small room, or there is something so heavy on her chest that it is crushing her lungs.

" I will not harm you" he says, and actually moves away. " I merely desire to welcome you into our clan, Regina".

" I have no interest in that".

" I will not desist my attempts to persuade you".

" I. am. not. Interested"

" Regina, it is of the utmost importance, the most sincere urgency- "

" I have a family"

She feels simultaneously like the helpless girl watching her lover die, and the cruel queen looking at another village that will not _talk_ when he casually remarks " Families can be lost".

" If you as much as _think_ \- ".

He sighs. " I have a suspicion that will only spur your hatred, instead of making you available to us".

Before she can tell him how utterly moronic ( _impossible. I can't-_ ) it would be to hurt her family, he is in front of her again and pressing his fingertips to her forehead. She tries to yank her head back at the intense cold, a pain so acute she nearly throws up and-

For a single moment, she is gasping and trembling and looking around desperately. _Who? What -_ then he steps back, and it all comes back. Her name: Regina Mills. Her occupation: mayor, queen. She is a mother. She loves her son more than anything. She loves her friends, too.

(she misses half of herself)

" What was - ".

" I have named it 'breaking one's memories. I can make you forget your fondness when Snow White speaks about hope. I can make sure you never feel concern for Charming again" _no. No._ He steps closer, his tone cool and matter of fact. He pauses, like anyone who has a trump card would. " I can destroy your love for Emma Swan. I can make it so, that you walk into the same chamber as Henry Mills and you will feel _nothing_ ".

Once, she could have faked a laugh and made him flinch. Now, she is just staring at him, and there are no words. Just horror.

" You would look at that boy, and he would be nothing to you'.

" Henry would _never_ be nothing" Even now, Henry is everything. The thought of not loving him is laughable, it is so ridiculous. It _would_ be laughable, were it not for how she feels he is telling the truth, how she has felt what he is talking about. How she knows it by how she is choking, and trembling and wants to run and take her family, and make sure this man will never get near them again.

" You are right".

" Naturally" he smiles, and she thinks it is because he noticed the slight tremor in her voice. Or maybe he finds it amusing that even now, her tone communicates 'you are beneath me'.

" I could make you forget your families. I could make it so, that you look at their faces and there are no connections, no recollections. But there will always be emotion".

" You seem to speak out of experience" she comments, horrified. _Who haveyou caused pain like that?_

" I do. That is yet another similarity, my girl, for we have both caused pain using the same methods".

" But they still loved their family, even when they could not remember" . _Snow did not, not at first. Not until Emma drove that pigsty into town._

He just smiles, like he has guessed that she is attempting to get more information, to learn what sort of magic he uses. It is obviously not the dark curse, so what is it? She has never heard off it- " Does it matter? You know it is the worst curse imaginable".

She thinks of when she had to say goodbye to Daniel (twice). Of the nights were the king would enter the bedroom. She thinks of the million tiny ways her life was controlled ( this is what you wear. This is what you say. This is what Snow needs from you. The is who you are).

Then she thinks of meeting Henry after the second curse, of how much she had wanted to hug him ( had already moved towards him for it, hugging him muscle memory) and the pain when he merely offered her his hand to shake.

" Yes" she finally whispers.

He just nods, and she stares at him when the bounds suddenly disappear. " Think off that, Regina. I wish you no harm, but I do not care for your family".

The fog around his new form is lukewarm on her skin when she tries to punch him, a second after he has turned and is leaving. She tries to throw a fireball at him, but she is trembling so much that it hits the staircase instead of him.

And then she is alone.


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own OUAT. Warnings; this has a scene where something happens that reads like sexual assault (because of the whole mindcontrol thing) and there's this pretty gross description of a transformation into a spider-thing.  
**

 _Fog wrapped around her , like a blanket except less comforting. Her breath, cut-off so it is stuck in her chest, making it tight. Muffled sounds she can't identify- screams or whimpers or cries. Glowing eyes, everywhere. Odd sounds, like spiders walking over the ground. So many, so many, in her skin, pouring into her eyes, covering her mouth with their webs and she can't –_

For the third time that night, Regina wakes with a start, her heart pounding, her mouth dry and the bed on fire. Before she can gather her wits enough to put it out, there is muffled cursing and the flames slowly fade. The next second, there are gentle hands taking her wrists and exerting only the barest pressure. Emma has learned not to try to hold her down, and Regina is immeasurably grateful she didn't ask for an explanation , just seemed to understand, and will never admit it.

Emma is trying to entangle the blankets calmly ( it is a lot more efficient than Regina's panicked kicking) and there's a glass of water next to Regina that she immediately drinks, even though it doesn't quench her thirst, doesn't help with the dry mouth and burning throat. As soon as it's empty, Regina vanishes it and leans against the wall.

" What was it this time?" Emma says

" Emma- "

"I know you're not one for talking about this kind of shit, and I get that. But- these aren't normal nightmares, are they?"

Regina thinks of two nights ago, when she had woken and there had been dozens of spiders sitting in front of her bed and Emma had stumbled around, muttering things and stomping on them. " No, they are not" she finally says

Emma watches her. " Spiders, again?"

" This time, yes. Earlier – " she thinks of howls and blood and teeth sinking into her skin. " Wolves" she finally says

" Just the uh usual ones?" it takes her a second to get it, and she shakes her head. " I am not certain"

" Fuuuck" Emma exclaims, and for some reason it calms Regina. It calms her enough that her shoulders drop and she even, slowly, moves her hand away from her stomach.

Emma takes a deep breath, muttering her mantra 'what even is my life' and looks at Regina again. " Should I like get silver bullets and all that?"

For some reason, that makes Regina a little ill too. She has never killed a werewolf, but she does not doubt that she would've, had she gotten her hands on Snow's furry friend. But no, _no._ " I do not think that necessary" she says, pushing down her surprising feelings with some difficulty and focusing on Emma

" Okay, but we will have to inform everyone, and take counter measures so everyone is safe"

"What are you thinking off?"

Emma sighs and rubs her neck. " We could install a curfew, tell people to not go anywhere alone. Maybe the nuns could accompany people, so they can get people away quickly with magic if they're attacked"

Regina almost flinches, thinking of being pressed against a wall and Whale's hands around her neck. " The town does not mind resorting to violence. They will pick up their torches and pitchforks if they know what is going on" she says

"Possibly. But maybe my parents can calm them down?"

" Or perhaps they will launch a foolish attack - " Emma utters an incredibly foul curse when Regina hisses and spasms suddenly. _Not again._ She tries to push Emma away, but the stubborn, _stupid_ woman won't let her.

"Regina?"

" Hng" she says, which isn't what she meant to say at all. What she had wanted to say , was 'leave the room, you idiota' but her vowel cords seem reluctant to actually let her. Emma gets even closer, mierda, and she's close and gorgeous and caring and Regina aches and screams at herself to just stop it.

" Em- "

" Maybe it will help if you – " it's dark but Regina's vision has improved so much that she can see everything, even Emma's cheeks flushing slightly. Even if she couldn't see perfectly well in the shadowed room, she would know. Gods above and below help her, and curse her karma, but she would. " If you feed" Emma says, again. It might be the third time or it might be the thirtieth time she has offered since Regina has gotten worse, and Regina is a weak, weak person.

She almost gives in.

" No!" she manages to say – actually, it's more of a growl and it would be horrifying (embarrassing) if she wasn't too focused on how her muscles are disobeying her and her neck burns like she turned it way too quickly and everything else hurts so much that there are dark spots at her vision.

Emma makes a noise of frustration. " If you would just- "

The spasms are lessening, and Regina just manages to grit out" Don't know the effects " before there's that _pain_ again and she has to use all her willpower to not start screaming. She is trembling and gritting her teeth and thinking 'don't be weak, don't be weak' when there's an interlude. A moment where the pain stops and she almost cries with relief.

As soon as she opens her eyes again, she knows what has happened. Emma's face is scrunched in stubborn determination and her face is illuminated by the soft greyish magic all around them. It's Emma's magic, apparently knowing how to stop a pain that makes Regina's own magic useless, and she almost lets out an exhausted chuckles because _of course. Naturally, the one person I need to keep my distance from, is the one that can make me feel better._

" Are you okay?" Emma softly asks, dropping her hands. It's kind of like leaving your warm, very comfortable bed in the morning, when you forgot to close the window and it's winter and so it's freezing. That's what Emma's magic leaving her is like.

" Yes, I am fine. Completely fine. Fine" Regina says, and Emma really doesn't need her lie detector for that one so she isn't surprised when Emma just gives her a 'yeah, right' look but she doesn't say anything, just shrugs and nods.

" If that's your story and you're sticking by it, _fine_. Do you need any water or whatever?"

" No, I am good " now that she's no longer in pain, Regina truly notices how close Emma is. Her eyes have different shades in them. Regina kind of stares at them, and tries to look like she isn't.

" Okay. So should I make breakfast?"

" It is five in the morning" Regina deadpans

"It's five in the morning, you definitely won't fall asleep again and both of us are starving but at least one of us actually eats"

" I am not - " Regina searches for the right expression, then settles on " I am not using you for that, Emma"

" Well, you gotta eat" Emma says, shrugging. " And really, I don't mind. It's a little weird, but that's just Storybrooke, right?"

" I do not disagree with you on that" Regina offers, because Storybrooke really is weird. It's her town and she is proud of it, and protective, but it is a little odd by most standards.

Emma smiles, and slowly gets off the bed. "So. Grilled cheese?"

" You are not touching anything in my kitchen " is all Regina says

Emma rolls her eyes. " Why does everyone assume I can't cook?"

" Because you have ruined their kitchen equipment at least once" Regina grumbles, narrowing her eyes slightly.

" I never- "

" You will refrain from touching anything in my kitchen, especially my coffee machine, or I will destroy you" Regina says.

Emma just laughs and it's a beautiful sound but Regina still feels like she should be annoyed. After all, she isn't taken serious at all anymore and that's supposed to be upsetting. Instead, Regina is just very fond.

Damn it. Damn it all.

* * *

 _Wolves, dozens of them. Glowing eyes and – no, not wolves. People. Dirty and bloody and –_ Regina gasps as the – dream? Vision? She doesn't know- disappears, and she is just sitting in Granny again, waiting for her lunch so she can return to the office and attempt to focus on those files. Not that she can focus on much of anything lately, worry and questions and hunger and shame all getting in the way. Still, work is important. And she will be happy to see Hook before allowing someone else to take care of _her_ town.

" What did your coffee do, that you are glaring at it like that?"

Regina yanks her head up, suddenly realizing her head is heavy, her eyes are heavy, and her cheeks are flushing. She feels like her heart should be racing, but instead she can feel it slowing. All the fault of that goddamn vampire-

She tries to glare, tries to give her most poisonous look, but she can't. It's awful and she hates that woman and hates herself, and her stupid, uncooperative, _weak_ body even more. " What do you want?" she grouses

The woman smiles at her, and Regina curses so foully in her head that even her gentle, calm father would have yelled at her for it. That smile – it has a disconcerting mixture of terror and arousal going on in her entire body, which is bad enough but she suddenly realizes she is actually smiling and can't stop. " Leave" she commands, except her tone comes out soft and pleading instead of indifferent and cold.

The woman sighs, and puts her hand on Regina's. " Listen, I came here to apologize " she says

 _She has a wonderful voice, it is soothing. It is odd that it is so – stop that!_ " Apology unaccepted, and you will remove yourself from this property before I- "

" Come on sugar, I truly am sorry "she practically coos and Regina wants to simmer with resentment but instead feels shivers jumping all along her spine. _Don't._ She focuses really hard, using Emma's smile and Henry's hugs as focus point, until she can feel the influence fade. She still can't manage to glower at the vampire, but at least she isn't a helpless, want-filled moron.

" Your apology is accepted" . _Just leave._

"Good" the vampire purrs, before sitting down. Regina immediately opens her mouth, gritting her teeth, _Emma's smile, Henry's hugs, Snow's support, David's protective caring_ , and is just about to at the very least admonish the woman ( and possibly push her, and hopefully cause her to fall) when the woman really goes too far, and pulls Regina into her lap.

Regina inhales sharply, and melts. She tries to fight it, but she can't focus, can't conjure any of the images she needs , can do little but try to fight the need to sink into that embrace. The only way she can is by focusing on the way her stomach feels like it is filled with stones, and her lungs feel like she is breathing in water.

Usually, she would push that feeling away, control it, not even show it in that practised way she has after everything. After her mother and the king and Snow and- just after. She pushes those thoughts away and only keeps the rest, because rather all that than endangering Emma and Henry (her friends, her family) if this woman commands her to go with her and she actually goes

"You are so beautiful" the woman says, her hands sliding down Regina's body. There's sharp acid in her stomach but at the same time, her breathing changes and – gods, she feels sick and confused and wants to scream at her body, wants to destroy it for doing something she doesn't want it to.

"Let me go " Regina finally manages to push out

The vampire chuckles, and kisses her cheek. Regina jolts in her lap when she immediately moves her lips to Regina's neck next, and she can feel- " Okay bloodsack, get your teeth off her"

 _Ruby._ Regina has never been happier to hear that voice, and there's pure, elated relief for a moment before her stomach drops ( like she is in one of those rollercoaster rides Emma sometimes raves about) because Ruby is in danger. Ruby is in danger because of her and Henry will never forgive her and Regina herself is-

" Get out, dog" the vampire says, something so cold and condescending and just _awful_ that Regina manages to pull her wits together enough to stumble off the woman's lap and even light a fireball. The vampire stares at it with some apprehension, but she is mostly being arrogant and smirking a lot.

She tuts. " Don't be like that, my little- "

" I am not yours" Regina says, trying to summon every ounce of hatred and rage and bloodlust so she can glare so much at the woman that if she unfortunately doesn't spontaneously die, at least she will shut up. There's nothing there though- or , there is. There is anger and loathing all brought on by the idea that this woman would rip Henry's throat, Emma's throat, would hurt anyone she cares about but it is _nothing_ to what she is used to.

There's a lot less rage and hatred, and she almost stumbles she's so lost and confused. And not trying to show it, because if this woman even spots the smallest bit of weakness, the lightest chink in Regina's armour- " Now, this is your last- "

The vampire stands up, and shows all her fangs. (gods, Regina hates the thrill that sends through her, she really does) " Little doggie, you've got this one chance to apologize and I will be merciful" she slowly glides her eyes over Ruby, and then keeps them pointed at her chest. " I might even be very good, and take you as my own little- "

Regina doesn't recognize the sound, she just vaguely registers her chest is rumbling and her gums are burning with ice before she already slamming into the vampire, and holding her down on the floor. She slams her into it a few times for good measures, her nails digging into the other woman's shoulders for a good hold and then raising her before using all her strength to slam her into the dirty floor.

" You will _not_ mistreat her" Regina warns, slamming her hands on the floor and getting so close to the woman that if she moved her head one inch down, they would be kissing

The vampire just chuckles. " You're even more gorgeous now that you're no longer a tamed little pet, darling" and she licks her lips. And ogles Regina's –

"Stop that" Regina commands

The smile is back. That awful, beautiful, terrifying, comforting smile that has Regina feel like she is being covered with blankets and all the noise just stops and she doesn't have to think- she grits her teeth. " I would appreciate it if you would stop attempting to brainwash me"

A chuckle." I don't think so. You're too delicious for that"

"Let me help Regina, I would be _happy_ " Ruby says with a growl. Regina doesn't risk a glance at her, but she's sure Ruby's eyes are glowing and her teeth are bared. She must really hate the vampire if she offers anything like that.

"Step back, miss Lucas" she commands, because Ruby might be a werewolf, might be almost impossible to hurt, but Regina won't even risk her getting hurt. Or worse- because the vampire's eyes are glinting and they're filling with blood and she's really very pretty-

Regina's grip slackens.

She forgets one second, and lets out a small groan when she is thrown to the back. Actually picked up and thrown, which is humiliating. Ruby growls and she is moving without thinking, picking the woman up and putting her down behind the counter and throwing a fireball in one motion. The vampire easily deflects and she coughs when the entire room is suddenly filled with fog, and there's a cold breeze caressing her neck and –

Her eyes roll back.

The pain registers first, sharp and short and awful. Mixed through it, subduing it , is the pleasure. Her stomach is a mess, desire and disgust jumping over each other. Her head is even messier, awful memories in it that have her freeze even when the mind-control stops working. She's vaguely aware of a hand digging into her hip, and her skin heating up, like she has a fever, where it's pressing against bare skin.

She stumbles and falls, shivering violently, against the woman when she can feel the teeth retract and a kiss pressed against that spot. The woman wipes away some sweaty strands of her hair, almost reverently, and Regina is sick with herself because some small part of her still enjoys the affection. " Do not deny what you are" the woman says and Regina is too - too everything, really- to really understand what the woman is trying to tell her.

The woman's gentle expression suddenly vanishes and Regina tries to jump back – _tries_ because her legs react like a colt's and she is instead forced to remain near the woman- when the woman's features shift. It's a nightmare, even for a woman so very used to both dreams and waking horrors. Her eyes bulge, then divide, slime sticking to the sides. As soon as there are eight of them, hairs push through her face , moving like there's a wind inside the diner. Then there's suddenly- gods, no – there is thin things pushing through her pants, hair quickly growing on them. Her mouth has become something else entirely, something with teeth and some sort of substance dripping from it-

Those eight eyes are really close to her face for a moment, and then the thing-woman- person is skittering away, and Regina is caught by Ruby. She holds her hand to her mouth, pressing down on all the tightness and pain and terror caught somewhere around her lungs. Ruby strokes her hair and holds her, holds her like she hasn't been held in- like she has probably never been held- and she scolds herself for the weakness but sinks into the embrace regardless.

Ruby just wraps her in the embrace, warm and good and loose enough that Regina could never feel trapped. " It's okay, it's okay. We got you, we got you" she whispers, and Regina grabs her hands so tightly she probably hurts Ruby but she can't stop. She trembles and shakes and tries not to lose all her composure and self-respect but loses that fight anyways.

" You did so good, you did so good" Ruby says, so warm and gentle and Regina wants to scream at her, wants to tell her she doesn't need this, mother can't know she's weak and wants to stay like this and scream _more_ \- she was the evil queen she was everything she didn't want to be and deserves all this- and wants to wrap her own arms around Ruby and –

She wipes away the tears she couldn't keep away, and realizes Ruby dragged her to the back at some time. She is even more grateful for the privacy than she is for everything else Ruby is doing. She doesn't look up though, doesn't even acknowledge Ruby as she hears and smells her return. Actually, Regina almost burns Ruby takes her hand, squeezes it and nudges the tea towards her.

"Belle always says tea is calming" Ruby says

Regina just scoffs. " When does the bookworm ever need calming?" it's probably the fact that there's no bite to it, and that Regina is scrambling to make sense of everything as well as to gather her composure again that keeps Ruby from biting her head up.

" She still doesn't like small spaces" Ruby says, obviously trying to not be accusing but mostly failing. They haven't talked enough about it, and Regina had hoped she would be in a better place for a conversation like that.

She sips her tea ,thinks _you were a monster_ , and tries to look up. " I am so sorry" she whispers

Ruby sighs, and sits down. " I know. She has forgiven you, you know"

There's a silence filled with all her past crimes. " She probably shouldn't" she finally says, quiet but not whispering.

" Maybe. She understands though"

Regina shakes her head. " How can she? " _I don't._

"Okay, understand is the wrong word and she isn't really okay with it, but she thinks that wasn't really you"

Regina finally manages to look up. " What does she mean?"

"Of course you're the crappy things as well, but you're also all the good things you did. It's like, with me, I obviously did bad stuff. Horrible stuff, things you can't forgive. But- " Ruby shrugs. " That's not who I am"

"That is different. You are a werewolf, you have no control- "

" And you were the evil queen, manipulated and used and abandoned at every turn. Which, yeah you still were wrong and you're lucky that we all managed to forgive you but come on- it's not like you're pure evil"

" _I'm_ not. _She_ is"

" Are Regina and the queen really different though?"

Regina sips her tea again, then rolls her eyes slightly. " Obviously. She is a different person now" the small bit of energy she was regaining fades again, and she feels even more exhausted than before "One I set free and is now threatening you"

"No, I mean- you were the queen. You can't change that and it isn't like we have forgotten, we just see _you_ as well" Ruby seems a little frustrated.

" I- "

" Just think about it, okay?" Ruby asks, smiling at her.

"Yes. Thank you"

Ruby just shrugs. "Know what it's like, that's all. I mean, you obviously did far worse than me but still " there is another silence, slightly less heavy than the last and then Ruby smiles and says " Most of the times, Belle needs calming because of Rumple"

Regina arches her eyebrow " Imagine that "

"Yeah, like not enough tea in the world, right?"

"There is not enough tea in all the realms"

They share a smile and then Ruby gets a downright naughty expression that makes Regina eye the door. She slowly sets down her tea, which is good because two seconds later Ruby sits down next to her and throws her arm around Regina.

" So" she says, grinning

" No" Regina replies

"I wasn't saying anything!"

" Your expression tells me all I need to know, dear"

" Actually, I am just offering my help"

Regina narrows her eyes in suspicion, and holds her tongue. Which she could do for a long while, especially if it meant Ruby would not say whatever inappropriate thing was on her mind, but Ruby has to ruin it by talking, of course

" I am just thinking, you're probably hungry in the non-regular way" Ruby starts, grinning at her. Regina gives her an expression that is supposed to shut her up, but does the exact opposite. "So. You can drink from me"

" No "Regina just repeats

Ruby throws her hair back, damn her. Damn her , all her aspirations and hopefully her neck as well so that it will never tempt Regina again. This ridiculous situation, honestly- " Ruby" she warns.

Ruby turns to her " Come on Reggie" she says, a truly devilish smirk on her too-smug face.

The tea evaporates, her magic reacting, and Ruby actually pulls back a little bit when Regina leans in, and tries for her best evil queen look, trying very hard not to agonize over using it. " Do not call me that- "

"That's hot" Ruby says, and then there are suddenly soft lips pressed to her own. Ruby pulls back for just a second, and Regina doesn't know why and isn't interested so she just grabs her shirt and yanks her back in. Ruby immediately kisses her back, trying to bite down on her lip only for Regina to smirk against her lips and pull back slightly.

" That is my move" she whispers, then dives in again. There's languid kissing and messy kissing and more-or-less gentle pulling on Ruby's hair so she can nibble and kiss her neck before biting her – she files away that sound, as it is beautiful- and then they're still kissing for some reason even though that annoying hunger from the past weeks is gone but that's okay, Regina really-

The door slams open, and Regina doesn't understand why Ruby mutters 'oh shit' and disapproves when she pulls back . She tries to kiss Ruby , but she swallows and moves her eyes in a way that suggests she wants Regina to look at something. Regina rolls her eyes, but obliges. Even though Ruby was the one who started it and she most definitely enjoyed-

" Me cago en todo lo que se menea!" Regina mutters. Emma Swan is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, lips tightly pressed together and her expression downright terrifying. Regina wants to utter another dozen curses when she realizes she is still pining, even when the idiota is barging in on a very good moment.

" Seriously? " Emma hisses.

Regina inhales sharply. " I would appreciate it, Emma, if- "

" I mean, Ruby come on that's so not okay" Emma says, which leaves Regina with a slight sense of vertigo. That's a plot twist almost worthy of 'have a biscuit, Potter'. Emma is mad at Ruby and not her?

" She's obviously vulnerable or whatever, and you what? Decide your hormones are so fucking important that- "

" Hey!" Ruby cuts in. " This was a mutual thing okay, Em, and just because you can't – "

" I have a boyfriend" Emma growls

" And I have a broken picture frame Granny won't let me throw away because of sentimental value- not that she ever admits that is the reason"

" What?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "You're ridiculous. She was in pain, I helped her out. So what?"

" Since when does helping her mean ripping her clothing, or did she also have a mysterious magical illness only cured by touching her chest?"

That's when Regina looks down and immediately glares at Ruby.

" Werewolf strength, sorry" Ruby mumbles, which somehow mellows Regina. Maybe it's just how pathetic the other woman looks right now, or how the headaches and the stomach cramps are finally gone. She just rolls her eyes and restores her clothing with a snap of her fingers.

" Aw, I liked them like they were" Ruby says

Before Regina can react to that, Emma glares at her with enough poison that Ruby holds up her hands placidly. " Calm down, you know I am mostly not into her"

" Mostly?" Regina ventures, arching one eyebrow. It is meant to be intimidating, but that obviously doesn't work on Ruby.

"I mean, we're friends but you're like insanely hot and I am a weak, weak human being so- "

" We're going home" Emma interjects, looking at Regina. " Right? I mean, don't you want to come home?" her assertive tone becomes a lot more timid, and worrying and – mierda, there's the pining again.

So Regina just sighs and says " Yes. We are going home "


End file.
